ROSE  DOOR 


ESIELLE  BAKER 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


FOR   ANSWER,   HE   KNOCKED   HER  FLAT   TO   THE  FLOOR — Page    19. 


THE    ROSE    DOOR 


BY 
ESTELLE   BAKER 


CHICAGO 

CHARLES  H.  KERR  &  COMPANY 
1913 


Copyright,  1911 
BY  CHARLES  H.  KERR  &  COMPANY 


JOHN    F.  HIGGINS 

PRINTER  AND   BINDER 


376-382    MONROE  STREET 
CHICAGO.      ILLINOIS 


PS 


8 


Count  me  once  for  all  enslaved; 
Twice  for  women,  twice  enslaved. 

ESTELLE  BAKER. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT  IS  MADE  OF  EXCERPTS  FROM: 

Effects   of  Tropical  Light   on   White  Men  (Major  Charles 

E.  Woodruff) 
The  Social  Evil  (J.  H.  Greer,  M.D.) 


THE  ROSE  DOOR 


"  In  the  name  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob, 
take  that  shawl  off  your  head,  Rebecca !  " 

"  And  shall  I  walk  through  the  streets  bare- 
headed?" she  retorted. 

"  Why  didn't  you  get  a  hat  in  New  York?  " 

"  Did  my  brother  send  me  so  much  money 
that  I  had  some  left  for  millinery?  " 

This  in  Yiddish. 

A  Rebecca  should  be  mild  eyed  and  meek ;  this 
one  was  black-eyed  and  self-willed.  'Way  back 
in  the  Fatherland,  after  a  day's  work  in  the  field, 
she  had  been  known  to  take  her  worn-out  mother 
by  the  shoulders  and,  after  forcibly  seating  her 
in  a  rocking-chair,  do,  herself,  a  day's  work  in- 
doors between  supper  and  bedtime.  This  was  the 
Rebecca  whom  steerage  passage  and  overland 
immigrant  trains  had  landed  bareheaded  and  un- 
washed at  the  San  Francisco  Ferrv. 


io  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Back  in  the  Fatherland  were  five  graves  and 
Benjamin ;  here,  in  America,  were  golden  oppor- 
tunities and  a  brother.  Benjamin,  too,  would 
come  over  and  then  they  would  marry.  Benja- 
min was  twenty  and  she,  sixteen. 

She  followed  her  brother  to  his  home  —  two 
rooms  and  a  v/ife.  Rebecca  slept  on  the  kitchen 
floor.  Her  brother  told  her  that  she  would  not 
be  able  to  get  worth  while  wages  till  she  could 
speak  English.  With  characteristic  vigor  she 
attacked  the  strange  tongue ;  by  pleadings,  bribe 
and  nagging  she  coerced  her  brother's  wife  into 
teaching  her  to  read  and  write  English;  when 
the  eacher,  weary  from  a  day  of  factory  work 
fell  asleep  over  the  enforced  lesson,  Rebecca 
roused  her  by  an  insistent  question.  Each  and 
every  person  who  spoke  to  her  was  required  to 
repeat  his  words  till  she  could  pronounce  them 
precisely.  At  the  factory,  they  would  gladly 
have  quarantined  her,  like  any  other  plague,  while 
her  brother  and  his  wife  felt  that  they  were  as 
veritable  martyrs  as  any  boiled  in  oil. 

It  would  have  taken  a  meek-eyed  Rebecca  five 
years  to  learn  the  English  acquired  by  this  one  in 
five  months. 

What  she  earned  did  not  pay  for  what  she  ate. 
much  less  enable  her  to  make  any  payments  on 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  n 

the  transportation  with  which  her  brother,  by 
great  privation,  had  provided  her.  How,  then, 
would  she  ever  be  able  to  buy  wedding  clothes? 
These  thoughts  kept  her  awake  when  she  should 
have  slept,  and  made  her  irritable  at  her  work. 

Month  after  month  slipped  by;  Benjamin 
would  soon  be  in  America  and  she  not  ready,  was 
all  her  thought.  One  more  letter  she  would  re- 
ceive from  him,  just  one  —  telling  of  his  sailing. 

The  letter  came;  it  was  of  absorbing  interest; 
she  read  it  twenty  times ;  it  stated,  first,  the  news 
of  the  unexpected  death  of  his  father;  second, 
the  long-known  fact  of  a  mortgage  on  the  shanty 
he  called  home ;  the  equally  familiar  truth  of  the 
existence  of  a  mother  plus  five  children  younger 
than  himself.  The  inter-mezzo  was  a  tragedy 
—  he  would  not  be  able  to  come  to  America  for 
years,  if  ever!  The  grand  finale  was  a  hope 
that  between  them  they  might  be  able  to  save 
money  enough  for  her  return  passage,  when  they 
would  marry  and  all  live  together  on  the  mort- 
gaged patch. 

Rebecca  was  never  known  to  yield  —  to  Fate 
or  anything  else.  She  had  to  be  knocked  down. 

She  wrote  Benjamin  a  long  reply.  She 
enumerated  her  obligations :  back  board  and  pas- 
sage money  due  her  brother,  to  acquire;  wedding 


12  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

clothes  to  buy  and  return  conveyance  to  secure. 
All  this  she  would  earn  herself,  for,  she  told 
him,  he  could  spare  nothing  from  the  mortgage 
and  family  of  se\-en.  This  she  must  accomplish 
before  they  could  be  married,  but,  she  assured 
him,  she  could  and  would  do  it  —  if  not  in  one 
year,  why,  then  in  two,  and  she  comforted  by 
reminding  him  that  as  he  was  barely  twenty-one 
and  she  seventeen,  they  would  not  be  so  very 
old  even  in  two  years.  She  closed  by  writing 
"  Good-bye  "  in  English  just  to  show  him  how 
much  she  had  learned. 

She  "  could  "  and  she  "  would  "  was  her  song 
at  work ;  her  prayer  at  night ;  yet  try  as  she 
might,  she  could  never  get  beyond  something  to 
eat  and  wear  and  a  few  pennies  paid  to  her 
brother. 

One  day  her  brother's  household  was  increased 
by  a  wee  person  and  the  wife  no  longer  worked 
in  the  factory.  Later,  Rebecca,  too,  left,  re- 
solved to  seek  riches  elsewhere.  An  agency 
placed  her  in  domestic  service  and  she  was  actu- 
ally able  to  save  more  pennies  for  the  back  board 
—  but  always  pennies. 

Max  knew  Rebecca's  brother  before  he  knew 
that  brother  had  a  sister,  therefore  he  came  to 
visit  Rebecca's  brother.  Hence,  he  saw  Rebecca 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  13 

without  coming  to  see  her  and  having  seen  her 
he  came  to  see  her. 

Good  feeding  showed  in  Max's  cheeks  and  his 
clothes  were  tine  enough  for  a  Rabbi.  Better 
yet,  thought  the  brother,  he  smiled  on  Rebecca. 

However,  there  is  only  one  man  for  one 
woman  and  Rebecca  cared  no  more  for  him 
than  for  a  street  cat  —  and  showed  it. 

The  months  slipped  by.  In  the  kitchen  of  a 
strange  people  Rebecca  worked  till  weary  each 
day,  yet  midnight,  in  her  bedroom,  saw  her 
seated  before  a  pile  of  books — "English,  more 
English ;  more,  more/' —  that  was  why  she 
couldn't  get  a  job  that  paid  well.  She  must 
speak  it  "  exactly  like  Americans  and  quick  as 
lightning  "  ;  and  she  must  "  write  good  "  too. 

She  stole  newspapers  and  read  them  through, 
literally  through,  every  word,  with  a  dictionary 
at  hand  —  that  needed  another  dictionary  to  clear 
up  its  own  unintelligible  words. 

The  whole  city  lay  between  her  and  her 
brother  —  the  brother  as  poor  as  herself. 

Between  her  and  her  lover  stretched  the 
whole  world  —  the  lover  as  poor  as  her  brother. 

\Yhile  the  dinner  burned  Rebecca  balanced  her 
account  with  America ;  poorer,  far  poorer  than 


14  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

when  sire  put  her  foot  on  the  ship  that  had  chased 
the  setting  sun;  in  the  home  land  she  had  owed 
nor  man  nor  woman;  she  could  earn  her  living 
there  any  day ;  the  customs  held  no  strange  ways ; 
the  people  all  were  friends.  What  had  she 
gained  in  this  land  of  uncaring  folk?  A  debt 
she  could  never  lift  and  a  distance  she  could  never 
traverse.  Yet  that  distance  must  be  covered  if 
life  were  to  be  worth  living. 

Max  knew  she  was  homesick  to  the  death. 
Max  knew  she  was  in  despair  —  but  he  wasn't 
going  to  help  a  girl  who  wouldn't  give  him 
even  a  smile. 

The  months  kept  slipping  along,  as  uncaring  as 
the  people.  Still  Rebecca  clung  with  might  and 
main  to  the  rock  of  her  determination.  She 
could  and  would  get  back  to  Benjamin. 

Valiantly  Life  pounded  away  at  the  clinging 
hands.  Milady  would  loosen  their  hold,  never 
fear !  They  were  maiden  hands.  Pshaw ! 
What  of  that?  They  were  honest  hands.  Pooh ! 
Success  is  the  word. 

Right  merrily  the  dinner  sizzled  to  a  crisp. 
Rebecca  pondered  on.  Surely,  there  must  be 
some  better  paid  work  for  a  girl  who  was  as 
strong  as  a  man  and  spoke  English  as  fast  as  an 
American  —  she  had  some  vanity  on  both  points 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  15 

She  would  ask  Max;  he  knew  the  city  thor- 
oughly. So  the  dinner  didn't  matter. 

Rebecca's  only  brother  received  a  visit  from 
his  only  sister.  The  sister  intimated  that  she 
would  like  to  see  Max.  The  suggestion  met 
with  the  brother's  approval;  also  with  that  of 
Max  —  therefore  he  materialized.  When  he  ap- 
peared, Rebecca  condescended  to  say  "  Good 
evening."  Encouraged,  he  accompanied  her 
back  to  her  place  of  servitude.  The  way  was 
long;  but  not  too  long  for  all  Rebecca's  eager 
tongue  had  to  say.  She  took  an  outside  seat  on 
the  street  car  so  that  the  tongue  could  gallop  to 
the  end  of  the  route. 

"  Max,  I  must  have  money !  Why  can't  I 
earn  more  than  just  something  to  eat  and  wear? 
Why,  Max,  I  am  stronger  than  you  and  my  Eng- 
lish is  almost  as  good  as  yours.  You  are  earning 
lots  of  money  easily,  for  you  are  well  dressed 
and  have  hours  of  leisure.  Tell  me  how ;  do, 
Max.  I  don't  care  how  hard  the  work  is,  only 
so  there  is  splendid  pay  for  it  —  oh,  lots  of 
money,  Max!  I  must  get  back  to  the  Father- 
land. I  must,  Max.  I'd  kill  myself  if  I  thought 
I'd  never  get  back." 

Before  he  said  "  Good  night "  he  admitted 
that  there  was  work  which  she  could  do  that 


16  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

was  well  paid,  generously  paid.  "  But,"  he  con- 
cluded, "  you  are  too  stuck  up  to  do  it." 

Although  she  declared  Rebeccaishly,  that  she 
did  not  care  how  hard  or  distasteful  it  might  be 
so  she  could  earn  big  money,  he  would  tell  her  no 
more. 

For  a  week  he  purposely  kept  out  of  her  reach, 
till  as  he  foresaw,  there  was  but  one  face  she  de- 
sired to  see ;  one  voice  she  longed  to  hear  —  the 
voice  that  could  tell  her  how  to  earn  "  big 
money." 

When  they  did  meet,  she  went  straight  to  the 
mark. 

"Tell  me  what  it  is,  Max;  tell  me,  tell 
me! " 

"  Oh,  you'll  get  mad." 

"  No,  I  won't,  Max;  just  try  me  and  see." 

He  tried,  her  with  but  a  shadow  of  the  truth, 
and  she  used  up  all  the  Yiddish  she  knew,  to  ex- 
press, loafer,  blackguard,  skunk! 

A  week  passed.     He  kept  out  of  her  way. 

Another  week  passed  and  she  had  not  met  him ; 
if  she  had  she  would  have  struck  him  in  the  face. 
He  knew  she  would. 

She  laid  new  plans,  she  would  walk  to  New 
York  City,  begging  from  door  to  door  —  but 
she  couldn't  beg  her  way  across  the  Atlantic! 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  17 

And  Life  battered  away  at  the  benumbing 
hands. 

Another  week  passed ;  then  she  passed  Max  on 
the  street;  she  did  not  strike  him  —  she  only 
dropped  her  eyes. 

Another  week  and  she  saw  him  again.  He 
said,  "  Good-day,"  and  she  did  not  strike  him. 
He  walked  by  her  side ;  she  did  not  strike  him. 

"Isn't  this  a  cozy  room,  Rebecca?" 
"  My  God !   Max,   I  can't  see  it.     Hurry  up 
and  bring  the  customers.     The  sooner  it  is  be- 
gun, the  sooner  it  will  be  over  and  then  good-bye 
to  '  American  opportunity  ' !  " 

"  Well,  how  will  I  do  for  the  first  one?  " 
She  dropped  her  eyes.     "  Not  you,  Max,  not 
you ;  let  them  be  strangers,  all  strangers." 

He  seated  himself  by  her  side.  "  I  think  there 
is  a  reserved  seat  for  me  before  the  crowd  ar- 
rives." 


'"'  I  ran  onto  a  big  fish  to-day  —  a  millionaire ; 
if  I  can  land  him,  he  will  be  a  steady  income 
for  us." 

"  You  needn't  land  him.  It's  three  months 
to-day,  and  that's  the  length  of  time  we  agreed 


i8  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

upon;  I'm  through.  Give  me  my  money  and  let 
me  go.  I  must  have  earned  a  thousand  dollars, 
and  I  want  my  two-thirds  as  you  said.  You 
say  it  is  in  the  bank  —  go  and  get  it  and  we  will 
part  friends,  Max." 

"  How  do  you  know  how  much  you  have 
earned  ?  I  set  the  prices  and  I  handled  the 
money." 

"  Some  of  them  told  me  how  much  they  paid." 

"  Oh,  their  prices  differed.  If  I  thought  a 
man  would  stand  bleeding  to  the  tune  of  ten  dol- 
lars, I  charged  him  ten  dollars;  but,  if  I  knew  he 
had  only  fifty  cents,  I  took  that  —  half  a  loaf  is 
better  than  none;  furthermore,  I  don't  see  why 
you  should  get  more  out  of  this  deal  than  I;  if  I 
didn't  hustle  for  you  there  would  be  no  busi- 
ness." 

"  One  reason  why  I  should  get  two-thirds  is, 
that  you,  yourself,  said  that  I  should.  Another 
reason  is,  that  I  work  ten  times  harder  than  you 
do.  There  has  been  a  constant  stream  pouring 
in  here,  and  I  am  tired  out." 

"  Tired  out !  Rubbish !  There  are  women 
who  keep  at  it  for  years." 

"  Then  they  are  never  rested.  But  my  time  is 
up ;  give  me  my  money  and  let  me  go." 

"  What  do  you  want  your  money  for  ?     You 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  19 

have  plenty  to  eat  and  wear  and  a  comfortable 
room  to  rest  in,  if  you  must  rest  a  while." 

"  You  know  what  I  want  my  money  for." 

"  To  marry  Benjamin?  Get  that  out  of  your 
head.  You  will  never  marry  Benjamin." 

"  Give  me  my  money  and  let  me  go." 

"  Benjamin  —  is  —  married !  " 

"You  lie!" 

For  answer,  he  knocked  her  flat  to  the  floor. 

She  struggled  to  her  feet.  "  You  lie,"  she 
gave  him  again. 

Again  she  lay  on  the  floor. 

When  once  more  she  stood,  she  leaned  against 
the  wall. 

"Got  enough?"  he  asked. 

"  Give  me  my  money  and  let  me  go." 

"  Maybe  a  little  proof  will  help  you,"  and  he 
fumbled  in  his  pockets.  "  Here  is  a  letter  I've 
had  for  a  week,  but  have  been  waiting  the 
fitting  moment  to  deliver  it;  I  think  this  is  the 
time." 

He  touched  her  hand  with  the  letter;  it  was 
directed  to  her  brother,  but  it  was  Benjamin's 
writing. 

She  opened  it  and  read: 

"  I  didn't  believe  the  stranger,  but  when  you 
wrote  that  it  was  true  and  that  you  had  cast  her 


20  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

off,  I  had  to  give  up.  Your  cousin  Sarah  and  I 
got  married  yesterday." 

She  sat  down.  Then  she  lay  down  on  the 
bright-cushioned  lounge. 

He  lit  a  cigarette  and  paced  the  floor. 

A  half  hour  of  silence  is  a  long  time  — •  some- 
times. So  he  thought.  He  came  to  the  lounge 
and  stood.  "  Get  up  and  eat  and  dress,  ready 
for  business." 

She  looked  up  at  him.  "  You  told  Benja- 
min? " 

"  Yes." 

"  You  promised  that  no  one  should  ever 
know." 

"  I  wrote  him  the  very  day  you  came  here. 
What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?  " 

She  did  not  tell  him. 

"If  you  have  good  sense  you  will  see  what  a 
lot  of  money  you  can  make.  You  are  a  mighty 
good-looking  girl  and  not  eighteen  years  old. 
Do  you  know  that  if  you  will  get  right  down  to 
business,  and  I  can  get  the  right  sort  of  men 
coming  here,  you  can  make  thousands  of  dollars? 
You  can  brace  up  on  drink;  they  all  do." 

"  Make  thousands  of  dollars  for  you  to  keep?  " 

"  Well,  I  shall  keep  my  share,  of  course." 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  21 

"  I  have  already  earned  more  than  a  thousand 
dollars,"  she  repeated,  "  and  yet  I  have  only  ten 
dollars  in  my  purse.  When  do  I  get  the  hun- 
dreds still  due  me?  " 

"  That  depends  upon  how  docile  you  are." 

Into  her  eyes  flashed  murderous  hate.  He 
knew  the  look  —  it  had  been  shot  at  him  from  the 
eyes  of  other  women. 

"  I  am  going  out  for  an  hour.  If  you  are  not 
dressed  and  smiling  when  I  get  back,  I'll  kick  a 
grin  or  two  out  of  you." 

A  few  minutes  later  she  went  down  a  back- 
stairs. 

"  Mary,  Mary  Sullivan,"  she  called  softly. 

"  Here  I  am,"  came  from  an  inner  room. 

"  Mary,  will  you  lend  me  your  long  gray  coat 
and  black  hat  and  veil  for  half  an  hour?  I'll 
leave  my  short  blue  coat  and  hat  for  you." 

"  Sure !     Have  the  Cops  been  butting  in?  " 

"  Yes,  but  I'll  fool  them  a  bunch." 

When  Max  returned,  Rebecca  was  still  absent. 

Presently  the  door  opened.  Max  was  obliged 
to  explain  to  the  caller  that  the  lady  had  been 
suddenly  summoned  to  the  bedside  of  her  dying 
father.  Four  times  had  he  been  required  to 
make  this  sad  statement  and  his  face  had  become 


22  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

as  white  as  his  collar.     He  reached  for  his  cane 
and  as  he  fondled  it  he  murmured,  "  When  she 
does  come,  I'll  beat  the  life  out  of  her !  " 
The  cane  was  never  used. 


II 


John  and  Anna  sat  on  the  kitchen  door  step 
looking  out  on  a  dirty  alley.  It  might  just  as 
truthfully  be  said  that  they  sat  in  the  doorway 
of  the  parlor  or  bedroom,  for  it  was  all  of  these; 
the  only  room  for  the  housing  of  four  people  — 
two  children  and  their  parents. 

Anna  was  eleven  years  old ;  John  was  "  four 
going  on  five."  Their  bodies  were  round  as 
suckling  pigs,  and  their  cheeks,  red  as  the  red, 
red  rose.  They  laughed  often.  If  you  would 
know  what  glee-producing  power  lies  in  a  kitchen 
door  step  and  a  filthy  alley,  ask  your  own  little 
Peggy,  for  there  is  a  knowledge  that  dims  as  ex- 
perience widens. 

Just  inside  the  door  was  a  mother ;  her  cheeks 
were  redder  still ;  eyes  and  chest  were  caverns. 
A  hundred  months  of  coughing  had  ploughed  a 
hundred  furrows  on  face  and  hands.  Omnipo- 
tent, that  cough  had  changed  a  landscape  of 
brook  and  meadow  for  one  of  ash  and  tin  cans ; 
it  had  transformed  a  cushion  of  thick,  green 
grass  into  a  greasy  kitchen  step ;  it  had,  ten  years 
23 


24  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

before,  removed  husband,  wife  and  baby  from  a 
village  tailor  shop  to  a  tiny  half-supporting  farm. 
But  there  were  vegetables  and  fruit  the  year 
round  besides  a  cow  and  pig,  so  the  baby  thrived ; 
and  a  second  baby  grew  and  prospered.  The 
cough  grew,  too,  and  prospered  with  the  jubila- 
tion of  such  coughs.  Its  latest  malevolence  had 
been  to  whisper  of  a  miracle  to  be  performed  by 
a  free  dispensary  and  a  San  Francisco  alley. 

Besides  the  kitchen  door  step  and  kitchen, 
there  was  a  shop  door  step  and  shop  —  the  other 
half  of  this  two-room  shack.  On  the  shop  door 
were  letters,  maimed  but  not  halt  —  for  they 
ran;  bumped  right  into  each  other.  Yet,  if  the 
passerby  could  mentally  wedge  in  the  necessary 
hyphens,  he  might  make  the  legend  read : 
"  Cleaning  and  Repairing  Neatly  Done." 
At  night  Cleaning  and  Repairing  vacated  and 
Jack  Warner  took  possession.  The  pressing 
bench  he  labeled  "  bed  "  and  spoke  of  the  space 
as  "  lodgings."  A  teamster  without  a  team,  his 
business  was  less  wearing  than  that  of  others  in 
his  line.  Nevertheless,  his  weekly  dollar  was  all 
that  kept  a  roof  over  the  heads  of  husband,  wife 
and  two  children.  Cleaning  and  Repairing, 
when  it  did  knock  on  the  lettered  door  barely 
brought  unbnttered  bread  for  four. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  25 

One  month  after  locating  in  the  San  Francisco 
alley  the  cough  ceased  and  the  worn-out  mother 
rested.  Nothing  was  changed. 

Two  children  sat  on  the  door  step  and  there 
were  still  three  at  the  table. 

A  few  weeks  and  the  father  went  —  a  cut  while 
ripping  a  begrimed  garment  and  a  tired  man 
rested.  Nothing  was  changed. 

Two  children  sat  on  the  kitchen  door  step  and 
there  were  yet  three  to  sit  at  the  table,  for  Jack 
Warner  brought  in  bread  and  meat  which  Anna 
cooked  in  childish  fashion. 

One  night  John  and  Anna  were  awakened; 
Jack  Warner  was  crawling  into  bed  with  them ; 
he  was  cold,  he  said.  It  was  an  easy  after  mat- 
ter, by  threats,  to  bind  to  secrecy  two  children 
who  had  no  one  to  tell. 

Two  children  continued  to  sit  on  a  kitchen 
door  step,  but  they  talked  in  whispers.  When 
they  heard  Jack  Warner  coming  home  to  supper 
they  got  up  quickly  and  went  inside.  Anna's 
eyes  took  on  a  furtive  look  as  she  cooked  the 
meat,  while  John's  wide  open  and  terrified  were 
ever  fixed  upon  the  man.  At  the  end  of  seven 
months  a  public  school  teacher  heard  of  Anna 
as  a  child  who  ought  to  be  in  school,  and  she 
called.  Through  her,  Miss  Alice  Duncan  of  the 


26  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Associated  Charities  was  informed  that  there 
were  two  motherless  children  living  alone  in  a 
shanty  and  she  called.  The  following  day,  Miss 
Duncan,  with  a  co-worker  and  a  policeman,  took 
the  children  away. 

In  course  of  time  Miss  Duncan  drew  out  the 
whole  story  of  their  lives.  What  Anna  did  not 
tell  concerning  Jack  Warner,  Miss  Duncan  saw 
implied,  and  by  direct  questioning  learned  all. 
But  Jack  Warner,  the  criminal,  could  not  be 
found. 

John  was  placed  in  an  orphanage,  but  Miss 
Duncan  determined  that  Anna  should  have  a 
home  in  a  good  and  loving  family  where  she 
would  be  enwrapped  by  the  influences  especially 
fitted  to  her  need.  Miss  Duncan's  mind  went 
out  to  Mrs.  Miller,  a  woman  of  wealth  both  in 
dollars  and  heart.  Other  homes  and  women 
were  considered,  but  always  her  thoughts,  like  a 
glad  homing  pigeon,  winged  toward  the  angelic 
soul,  who,  though  having  two  idolized  sons  of  her 
own,  had  found  room  in  her  motherhood  for  a 
young  criminal,  because  Judge  Earle  had  said 
that  the  boy  had  good  stuff  in  him  and  would 
make  a  useful  citizen,  if  he  were  given  a 
chance. 

Mrs.  Miller  had  a  little  daughter  about  Anna's 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  27 

age  and  if  she  would  but  take  this  heart-starved 
girl  into  her  household  of  purity,  love  and  light, 
as  she  had  taken  Philip  Norder,  Miss  Duncan 
foresaw  a  cultured,  magnificent  womanhood 
blossoming  for  the  child.  Success  meant  such 
stupendous  results  that  she  would  risk  nothing 
by  hurry.  Not  till  the  furtive  look  should  have 
fled  from  Anna's  eyes;  not  till  ringing  laughter 
should  return  to  the  spiritless  voice ;  not  till  they 
had  made  several  thoughtful  visits  to  a  childrens' 
outfitting  department  would  she  venture  with  the 
child  to  Mrs.  Miller. 

So  the  days  grew  into  weeks ;  the  weeks  into 
months;  and  still  Miss  Duncan's  home  sheltered 
Anna.  When  the  child  first  entered  the  house, 
Miss  Duncan  had  a  small  bed  placed  close  against 
her  own  and  regularly  she  tucked  the  little  girl 
into  her  nest,  and  kissed  her  good  night.  One 
night  she  woke  to  find  Anna  sitting  bolt  upright 
in  the  dark.  Anna  explained  that  she  had  heard 
someone  trying  to  open  the  door.  Knowing 
what  the  child  feared,  Miss  Duncan  assured  her 
that  no  one  could  get  in  and  that  the  noise  was 
on  the  street.  Always  afterward  when  Miss 
Duncan  heard  her  restless  in  the  night,  she 
reached  out  her  hand,  which  was  eagerly  clasped 
by  a  smaller  one. 


28  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Hats  off  to  you,  Alice  Duncan!  and  if  there 
are  any  plums  awarded  in  the  next  world,  you'll 
get  a  handful. 

At  last  one  day  did  actually  find  them  ringing 
Mrs.  Miller's  door  bell.  Very  kindly  the  hostess 
took  Anna's  hand  and  very  lovingly  she  called 
her  own  little  Mary  to  show  her  dolls  to  the  small 
visitor. 

The  children  away,  delicately,  even  cautiously, 
Miss  Duncan  stated  her  errand,  but  no  detail  of 
Anna's  life  would  she  omit.  Full  of  tears  were 
Mrs.  Miller's  eyes  when  the  story  was  done ;  in 
her  face  shone  pity,  sympathy  and  —  repulsion. 
When  she  could  reply  she  did. 

"  Miss  Duncan,  I  couldn't." 

Then  she  added,  "  Not  for  every  dollar  I  pos- 
sess, would  I  have  Mary  know  that  such  a  hide- 
ous thing  could  occur  in  this  wide,  beautiful 
world."  ^ 

Miss  Duncan's  tears  were  in  her  voice.  "  It 
is  a  wide  world,  but  not  all  beautiful."  She 
choked  and  could  not  go  on  for  a  moment,  then 
she  continued :  "  Mrs.  Miller,  I  am  positive  that 
nothing  but  force  could  induce  the  child  to  speak 
of  it.  People,  most  of  all,  children,  do  not  roll 
as  a  sweet  morsel  under  their  tongues,  that  which 
is  a  terror  to  them." 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  29 

"  I  couldn't  risk  it,  Miss  Duncan,  I  couldn't 
risk  it,"  replied  Mrs.  Miller,  wiping  her  eyes. 

"  You  have  taken  Philip  Norder  into  your 
home,"  returned  Miss  Duncan,  gently  insistent. 

"  That  is  different,"  answered  Mrs.  Miller. 

"  May  he  not  instruct  your  sons  in  the  tricks 
and  skill  of  criminals?"  quietly  argued  Miss 
Duncan,  though  already  she  read  defeat. 

"  Oh,  I  hope  not !  I  cannot  believe  he  would 
so  betray  our  confidence  in  him.  But  it  is  dif- 
ferent, Miss  Duncan ;  my  Mary  is  a  girl!  " 

"  In  the  whole  natural  world  it  is  not  differ- 
ent," said  Miss  Duncan,  the  tears  having  reached 
her  eyes.  "  We  have  made  it  different  by  an  arti- 
ficial sentiment  and  we  are  being  punished  for  it ; 
but  our  sufferings  have  just  begun;  a  cataclysm 
awaits  us  —  nature's  way  of  throwing  down 
man-made  walls,  and  directly,  or  through  those 
we  love,  in  unavailing  travail,  we  shall  learn  the 
truth!" 

"  Miss  Duncan,  you  speak  like  a  prophet,"  said 
Mrs.  Miller  gently.  "  I  can  only  hope  that  you 
may  prove  to  be  a  false  one." 

"  I  lay  no  claim  to  super-knowledge,"  an- 
swered Alice  Duncan,  also  gently,  "  but  I  meet 
this  '  difference,3  as  you  term  it,  so  constantly  in 
my  work.  The  uplifting  hand  of  men  to  men,  the 


30  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

helping  hand  extended  by  women  to  men,  but 
neither  reached  out  to  women,  that  I  have  come 
to  see  the  handwriting  on  the  wall." 

"  Miss  Duncan,  our  purse  is  yours  for  any 
needs  of  the  child." 

Alice  Duncan  rose,  thanking  her,  and  Mrs. 
Miller  sought  the  children. 

Oh,  Agnes  Miller,  put  to  your  nostrils  the 
hand  with  which  you  clasped  the  child's ;  is  there 
not  the  smell  of  death  upon  it? 

Out  on  the  street  the  full  bitterness  of  her  fail- 
ure flooded  Alice  Duncan's  soul.  Neither  Mrs. 
Miller's  purse,  nor  any  number  of  purses  could 
buy  the  one  great  need  of  the  child  walking 
blithely  by  her  side;  for  Anna  had  spent  the 
rosiest  hour  of  her  life  and  was  pouring  into 
Miss  Duncan's  unhearing  ears  descriptions  of 
mamma  dolls  and  papa  dolls,  baby  dolls,  soldier 
dolls,  crying  dolls,  sleeping  dolls  and  wide-awake 
dolls. 

A  long  month  passed  before  Miss  Duncan 
could  calmly  contemplate  a  second  choice.  Then 
she  bethought  her  of  Mrs.  Brown,  a  wealthy 
widow  in  poor  health,  who,  with  a  daughter  full 
of  years,  lived  in  a  large  house  without  servants 
—  Japanese  help  coming  by  the  day  as  needed. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  31 

It  would  be  a  chilly  atmosphere  for  a  live  rosy 
child  —  but  it  would  be  safe ! 

So  Mrs.  Brown's  door  bell  was  rung  and  Mrs. 
Brown  was  willing  to  try  Anna,  who  was  to  go 
to  school  and  do  light  tasks  mornings  and  even- 
ings. 

A  dungeon,  called  a  basement,  and  three 
stories  were  the  bounds  of  the  house.  The  re- 
ceiving room,  drawing-room,  and  music  room, 
with  their  pictures,  statuary,  piano,  Indian  bas- 
kets, bright  rugs  and  shining  floors  were  fairy- 
land to  Anna. 

The  never-used  dining-room  attracted  her  also, 
for  a  shelf  running  entirely  around  it  held  up- 
right plates  and  saucers  covered  with  flowers, 
pictures,  and  gilding,  while  cups  and  jugs  as 
pretty  hung  beneath.  Anna  thought  she  never 
should  have  time  to  look  at  them  all  —  but  she 
did. 

A  narrow  passage  led  from  china  painting  to 
kitchen.  Here  was  one  window,  one  table  and 
one  chair;  the  etchings  on  the  wall  were  from 
smoking  fats.  The  bedroom  opening  off  would 
be  Anna's.  The  back  yard  —  Anna's  yard  — 
was  walled  in  by  a  fifteen-foot  tight  board  fence, 
of  color,  gray ;  that  there  might  be  harmony,  the 


32  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

kitchen  and  bedroom  floors  had  been  painted 
gray ;  and  gray  were  the  ashes  in  the  stove.  Cin- 
derella, your  aesthetic  soul  has  been  saved ! 

On  the  second  floor  to  the  far-removed  front 
slept  Mrs.  Brown  and  her  daughter,  full  of  years. 
So  Anna  lay  down  to  cozy  rest  each  night  — 
vacancy  in  front  of  her,  vacancy  above  her,  va- 
cancy below  and  a  dogless  yard  behind.  Sleep- 
conducing  thoughts  of  the  big,  dark  basement 
lulled  her.  The  kitchen  clock  sang  a  lullaby, 
with  stroke  twice  as  loud  as  in  daylight,  while 
stealthy  footsteps  moved  about  the  back  yard. 
At  any  rate,  it  was  the  same  thing,  for  when  you 
expect  footsteps,  you  do  not  listen  for  wind- 
blown leaves.  However,  soon  or  late,  the  most 
frightened  child  will  fall  off  to  sleep  and  those 
hours  of  oblivion  to  the  Terror,  together  with 
the  pleasant  ones  at  school  saved  her. 

Every  morning  the  daughter  full  of  years 
made  coffee  and  mush  and  carried  them  upstairs 
where  she  breakfasted  with  her  mother.  Cin- 
derella ate  in  the  kitchen.  Breakfast  over,  it 
was  Anna's  privilege  to  take  a  very  soft  cloth 
and,  lifting  carefully  one  of  the  beautiful  plates 
upon  the  unending  shelf  in  the  never-used  dining- 
room,  wipe  gently  from  it  any  dust,  real  or  im- 
aginary, thereon;  the  space  upon  the  shelf  was 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  33 

to  be  caressed  in  the  same  manner,  after  which 
the  plate  must  be  lovingly  returned  to  its  resting 
place.  This  enlivening  exercise  was  to  be  re- 
peated with  the  next  plate  and  then  the  next  ad 
infinitum,  after  which  followed  the  manicuring 
of  the  saucers.  She  was  instructed  that  when 
these,  also,  should  have  been  put  back  to  bed  be- 
tween clean  sheets,  she  should  beat  Columbus  by 
a  second  cycle  with  the  cups  and  jugs,  and  as  she 
could  massage  but  a  limited  number  before  school 
time  she  calculated  that  if  she  should  live  a  thou- 
sand years  she  could  never  hope  to  see  them  all 
freshly  shampooed  upon  the  same  day.  Thus 
Anna  surpassed  the  most  hoary  philosopher  in  a 
concrete  knowledge  of  eternity.  Having  been 
solemnly  warned  that  a  crack  in  a  china  land- 
scape would  constitute  a  felony,  she  always  ap- 
proached the  crockery  department  with  a  cheerful 
shiver.  At  half  past  eight,  Red  Riding  Hood 
took  her  lunch  basket  and  started  off  to  school, 
where  she  forgot  the  wolf  till  four  o'clock.  On 
her  return  to  her  boudoir  in  gray,  she  prepared 
such  articles  for  dinner  as  the  full-of -years 
daughter  directed.  When  these  were  cooked, 
each  carried  a  tray  full  upstairs,  where  mother 
and  daughter  dined.  Anna  ate  in  her  own  suite. 
After  dinner  she  washed  the  dishes  —  dinner 


34  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

and  breakfast  —  went  down  into  the  creaking 
basement  for  fuel,  swept  the  mauve  floor,  also, 
the  yard  of  neutral  tint.  She  didn't  feed  the  cat, 
because  there  wasn't  any  —  how  she  wished  there 
was.  The  laundry  was  sent  out  of  the  house, 
but  Anna  was  expected  to  wash  and  iron  her 
own  clothes  on  Saturdays,  also  the  handkerchiefs 
of  Mrs.  Brown  and  her  adult  daughter,  also  their 
aprons  and  towels  and  stockings.  When  these 
were  all  flirting  with  her  from  the  line,  she 
turned  her  back  upon  them  to  scrub  the  one  chair, 
the  one  table  and  the  one  window.  Then  she  as- 
sumed a  devotional  attitude,  but  it  was  merely  to 
wash  up  the  dove-colored  floor.  Next  she  hosed 
the  cement  yard,  brought  fuel  from  the  dungeon 
and  prepared  vegetables  for  dinner.  That  meal 
over,  dishwashing  was  in  order.  If,  after  this, 
time  hung  heavy  and  daylight  lasted  it  was  un- 
derstood that  she  would  always  be  allowed,  rev- 
erently, with  cloth  in  hand,  to  approach  the  china 
counter. 

On  Sundays  Anna  sat  with  Mrs.  Brown  while 
the  full-of-years  daughter  went  to  church.  Up- 
stairs were  the  same  bright  rugs  and  shining 
floors.  Very  slippery  they  were,  too,  as  Anna 
had  once  found  to  her  cost  by  spilling  a  tray.  The 
Sunday  custom  was  a  cold  midday  dinner,  after 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  35 

which,  the  dishes  being  washed,  Anna  was  al- 
lowed the  remainder  of  the  day  to  amuse  her- 
self. To  this  end,  she  regularly  seated  herself 
on  the  kitchen  door  step  and  studied  color  — 
gray. 

If  only  John  had  been  sitting  there,  too,  she 
knew  they  would  have  laughed  and  laughed  — 
ask  Peggy  for  the  why. 

One  day  Miss  Brown  said :  "  Anna,  I  bought 
three  dozen  clothespins  just  before  you  came 
and  one  is  missing.  Do  you  know  anything 
about  it?  " 

Anna  grew  red,  but  made  no  reply. 

"Why  don't  you  answer  me?" 

Still  no  reply. 

"If  you  know  where  it  is,  I  want  you  to  get  it 
at  once." 

Anna  hung  her  head,  but  slowly  rose.  Miss 
Brown  decided  to  follow  her.  Evidently  the 
child  was  light  fingered,  and  where  the  clothes- 
pin lay  hidden,  might  be  other  articles  of  value. 

Anna  entered  her  bedroom;  Miss  Brown  was 
at  her  heels.  Anna  approached  her  bed  —  Miss 
Brown  a  close  second.  Anna  reached  her  hand 
under  the  one  little  pillow.  .  Ah,  the  spoons  that 
were  probably  lying  side  by  side  with  that  stolen 
clothespin!  Anna  drew  out  the  clothespin 


36  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

wrapped  about  with  a  handkerchief  —  it  was  a 
doll. 

Once  upon  a  time  —  a  long  time  after  the 
clothespin  disaster,  after  miles  and  miles  around 
the  china  orbit,  after  Sundays  and  Sundays  and 
Sundays  of  amusement  on  the  kitchen  door  step 
—  on  a  Saturday  morning,  Anna  started  out  to 
the  grocery  for  a  pint  of  milk.  She  had  the  ex- 
act change  —  she  was  always  given  the  exact 
change.  At  the  corner  she  paused  to  look  at 
Mt.  Tamalpais  and  the  Bay.  Tamalpais  had  on 
her  spring  dress  —  such  a  pretty,  clean  dress. 
The  Sleeping  Maiden  lay  in  her  lap,  looking 
straight  up  to  the  sky  with  the  sun  shining  strong 
in  her  eyes.  As  Anna  looked  a  great  longing  to 
see  Miss  Duncan  came  over  her.  Many,  many 
times  during  the  gray  months  at  Mrs.  Brown's 
she  had  longed  for  Miss  Duncan  and  the  little 
bed  close  to  the  hand  she  could  touch  when  the 
footsteps  came.  To-day  she  longed  harder  than 
ever.  Tamalpais  was  Miss  Duncan  and  herself 
the  Sleeping  Maiden.  When  at  last  she  turned 
away,  the  nickel  rattled  in  the  pitcher.  She 
stopped.  A  great  temptation  smiled.  She 
looked  about  her  stealthily  —  the  old  look  that 
Miss  Duncan  had  worked  so  hard  to  efface.  A 
rose  bush  close  to  the  street  and  an  untenanted 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  37 

house  seemed  to  please  her  mightily.  Hurriedly 
she  put  the  pitcher  behind  the  bush  and  then 
walked  quickly  to  the  grocery. 

"  Could  you  tell  me  where  Miss  Duncan 
lives?"  she  asked  the  grocer. 

"Miss  Alice  Duncan?     Oh,  yes." 

He  opened  the  city  directory  and  wrote  down 
the  address  for  her. 

"  What  car  do  you  take  ?  " 

"  Take  the  Jackson  car  and  transfer  to 
Kearny." 

The  Jackson  car!  She  would  never  dare  take 
that,  it  passed  right  by  Mrs.  Brown's  house ! 

Trembling,  she  questioned  further :  "  Can't 
you  get  to  Miss  Duncan's  house  by  any  car  but 
the  Jackson?  " 

The  grocer  laughed.  "  I  think  you  might. 
Try  the  Sacramento,  California,  Geary,  Sutler, 
Ellis,  Turk  and  then  some,  but  the  Jackson  is  the 
nearest  for  you." 

"  What  is  the  next  nearest  after  Jackson?  " 

"  Sacramento." 

Several  blissful  months  with  Miss  Duncan; 
and  though  no  word  criticizing  the  Browns  was 
ever  uttered  before  the  child,  in  her  heart  Alice 
Duncan  wondered  that  the  girl  had  not  come 
screaming  to  her  that  first  terrifying  night. 


38  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Miss  Duncan's  health  was  failing  and  she  must 
leave  the  city  for  a  long  rest,  so  once  more  she 
set  to  work  to  find  a  "  home  "  for  Anna,  to  whom 
environment  became  increasingly  important  as 
childhood  was  left  behind. 

All  hope  of  obtaining  the  care  so  much  needed 
by  the  girl,  and  the  love  of  which  she  was  so 
Worthy,  had  long  since  been  abandoned  by  Miss 
Duncan.  She  must  be  content  if  the  affiliation? 
were  sound.  She  found  a  little  more. 

The  Merrills  lived  in  a  top  story  flat;  had  an 
old  Chinese  servant  and  a  two-year-old  baby. 
It  would  be  Anna's  work  to  attend  the  baby  out 
of  school  hours.  The  baby  worked  her  redemp- 
tion by  removing,  once  and  for  all,  the  tempta- 
tion to  steal  a  clothespin.  Very  soon  Baby 
Frank  loved  this  other  fellow's  sister  better  than 
he  loved  his  mother  —  as  is  the  way  of  sons. 
He  was  no  feather  weight  and  Anna  was  always 
tired  out  by  bed  time,  but  she  had  a  snug  little 
bed  in  the  nursery  and  slept  like  a  log  for  there 
was  no  empty  basement,  no  vacant  upstairs,  no 
dark  back  yard  leering  in  at  her  window  and  baby 
Frank's  bed  touched  hers. 

After  a  few  months  of  Anna's  willing  spirit, 
Mrs.  Merrill  decided  that  she  and  the  girl  could 
"  manage  it  alone,"  though  which  one  was  to 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  39 

be  alone  did  not  then  appear.  Ah  Wah  went 
down  the  two  flights  of  stairs  with  his  pay,  his 
pig  tail  and  disgust.  Mrs.  Merrill  sat  down  in 
a  rocker  with  pencil  and  paper  to  figure  out  the 
number  of  extra  hats  and  suits  Wah's  salary 
would  afford  her. 

It  was  arranged  that  Anna  should,  after  school 
each  day,  prepare  the  vegetables,  set  the  table 
for  dinner  and  then  take  care  of  Baby  Frank 
while  Mrs.  Merrill  did  the  rest.  Sometimes 
Mrs.  Merrill  found  it  necessary  to  do  some  shop- 
ping after  school,  at  which  time  she  assured 
Anna:  "  I'll  be  back  in  time  to  get  dinner,  but 
if  I  should  be  a  little  late,  just  put  the  roast  in 
the  oven  and  start  the  vegetables  cooking1  — 
sometimes  the  cars  are  stalled,  you  know." 

How  those  cars  acted!  From  three  to  four 
nights  a  week  and  all  day  Saturday  they  balked. 

In  course  of  time,  cook,  nurse  and  laundress 
came  to  cost  only  the  board  and  clothes  of  a 
school  girl. 

On  Sundays,  Anna  was  allowed  to  go  out  from 
two  o'clock  till  five,  after  which  she  remained 
with  Baby  Frank,  while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Merrill 
went  down  town  to  a  French  dinner  and  finished 
out  the  evening  at  the  theatre  or  by  a  trip  across 
the  Bay  to  Mrs.  Merrill's  mother. 


40  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

On  one  of  these  Sunday  evenings  Anna  had 
a  birthday  party  for  herself  to  which  Baby 
Frank  was  invited.  Mrs.  Merrill  had  allowed 
her  to  make  a  cake  and  given  her  fourteen  can- 
dles for  it.  The  party  ate  every  slice  of  the 
cake,  then  picked  up  some  pieces  which  had  fallen 
to  the  floor  and  swallowed  them  and  lastly  raked 
together  the  crumbs  on  the  table  and  consumed 
them  —  and  never  got  sick  at  all. 

There  was  no  place  that  lured  Anna  like  Gol- 
den Gate  Park.  The  lovely  walks;  the  beautiful 
flowers;  the  music;  and  very  often  schoolmates. 
The  Sunday  following  the  birthday  party  found 
her  in  the  Park  sitting  on  a  bench  near  the  merry- 
go-round.  People  passed  her  —  in  dozens,  half 
dozens,  triplets  and  single. 

One  single  was  a  boy  about  sixteen  years  of 
age.  He  noticed  Anna,  hesitated,  then  some- 
what timidly  approached  her  bench  and  seated 
himself  at  the  extreme  end  from  her.  He  was 
a  beautiful  boy  —  and  so  thought  Anna.  She 
was  a  very  sweet- faced  girl  —  and  he  had  eyes 
to  see.  After  a  lengthy  silence  he  said  in  a  low 
voice,  "  Do  you  like  that  ? "  pointing  to  the 
merry-go-round. 

"  Yes,"  from  Anna,  also  in  a  low  tone. 

"Will  you?"  he  asked. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  41 

"Yes,"  said  she. 

Arrived  at  the  whirling  pleasure,  he  helped 
her  into  a  seat,  then  got  in  beside  her.  Several 
times,  as  they  flew  around  and  around,  their 
shoulders  touched  as  they  were  jostled  together, 
and  through  their  bodies  passed  a  thrill  such  as 
neither  had  ever  before  felt.  Each  looked  at 
the  other  for  explanation  but  neither  spoke. 
When  they  had  ridden  their  money's  worth,  the 
boy  paid  another  fare  and  on  they  circled.  And 
yet  another  fare  he  paid.  Finally  they  alighted 
and  without  comment  walked  away  together. 
By  flower  beds,  by  people  sitting,  by  people 
riding,  over  rustic  bridges,  past  the  deer,  up  a 
knoll,  down  an  incline,  where  to  aid  her  he  ex- 
tended his  hand,  which  meeting  hers  sent  again 
that  glad,  mysterious  thrill  through  them  both. 
At  the  music  stand  they  sat  down  and  listened 
silently.  After  listening  for  —  well  they  could 
not  have  told  you  whether  it  was  a  minute  or 
a  ^year ;  at  any  rate,  there  did  come  a  time  when 
they  arose  and  walked  again;  past  people  they 
did  not  see,  by  birds  they  did  not  hear.  They 
communed  with  each  other  but  did  not  talk. 
There  came  a  time  —  no,  time  did  not  exist. 
Well,  at  last  Anna  came  out  of  her  trance  and 
asked  what  o'clock  it  was.  The  boy  took  out 


42  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

his  watch  and  held  it  for  her  to  see.  Her  face 
went  white. 

"  Six  o'clock !  "  she  gasped. 

"  What  difference  does  that  make?  "  he  asked 
anxiously. 

"Oh,  hurry,  hurry!"  she,  running. 

He  followed  her  lead  to  a  street  ;:ar  which 
they  boarded  sitting  outside,  shoulder  to  shoul- 
der, as  in  the  ever-to-be-loved  merry-go-round., 
The  happy  thrill  came,  too,  though  fear  tried  to 
thrust  it  out. 

"Why  must  you  hurry  so?"  asked  the  boy 
gently. 

"  They  were  going  with  a  party  of  friends  to 
a  down-town  dinner,  and  oh,  I  shall  be  late!  " 

"  Who  are  '  they  '  ?  "  he  inquired,  in  the  same 
gentle  manner. 

"  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Merrill." 

"  Your  parents?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  I  live  there  and  assist  Mrs.  Merrill. 
My  parents  are  dead." 

"  Ah,  you  are  more  sorrowful  than  I !  "  he 
said  pityingly.  "  My  mother  is  dead,  but  I  have 
a  father,  the  best  father  in  all  the  countries  of 
the  world.  I  would  not  say  that  if  your  father 
were  alive,"  he  apologized. 

Suddenly   the    car    stopped.     As    suddenly   it 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  43 

changed  its  mind  and  started  on;  then  capri- 
ciously rested  again.  After  a  time  the  conductor 
sat  down  resignedly.  After  another  time  some 
passengers  got  off  and  walked  and  after  a  third 
time  the  face  of  the  motorman  took  on  a  look  of 
infinite  peace. 

Anna  was  four  miles  from  home.  To  get 
there  afoot,  would  be  to  face  a  lost  cause  as 
certainly  as  not  to  get  there  at  all.  Locked  and 
unlocked  her  fingers  in  nervous  misery;  deeper 
and  deeper  grew  the  red  in  her  cheeks ;  brighter 
and  brighter  the  blue  of  her  eyes  till  the  gazing 
boy  wondered  when  she  would  reach  the  maxi- 
mum of  her  prettiness. 

Sometime  the  car  resumed  its  way  —  it  nearly 
always  does.  Sometime  they  reached  the  Mer- 
rill's door  bell,  but  it  was  sulky  —  it  would  not 
answer.  Again  it  was  pulled ;  still  it  pouted. 

"  They  have  gone  and  taken  the  baby !  "  All 
the  red  dashed  out  of  her  cheeks. 

"Why  should  they  not  take  their  baby?" 
asked  the  perplexed  boy. 

Once  and  once  only  before  had  Anna  spoiled 
a  Sunday  evening  for  the  Merrills  by  getting 
home  late;  and  the  sting  of  the  tongue  feminine 
and  the  force  brutal  of  the  masculine  had  left 
an  impression  of  value  as  the  tongues  intended. 


44  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Nothing  short  of  a  trip  to  Paradise  could  have 
caused  her  to  forget  again  —  but  that  was  just 
the  journey  she  had  made. 

Every  line  of  her  dress,  and  the  ribbons  on 
her  hair  kept  rhythmical  quiver  with  her  limbs 
as  she  tried  to  tell  the  boy  that  having  been  dis- 
appointed in  their  plans,  they  had  gone  across 
the  Bay  to  Mrs.  Merrill's  mother  where  they 
might  remain  all  night. 

"And  they  have  locked  me  out!" 

"  Perhaps  they  have  left  the  key  under  the 
door  mat,"  suggested  he. 

No,  it  was  not  there.  He  looked  in  the  step 
corners;  it  was  not  in  them.  He  hunted  for  a 
possible  nail ;  no  nail. 

"  Oh,  they  are  very  angry,"  said  the  shaking 
girl. 

"  This  is  not  cause  for  great  anger,"  said  the 
boy  gravely. 

"  But  they  had  reserved  a  whole  table  and  I 
heard  them  say  each  plate  was  to  cost  five  dollars 
in  advance,  so  Mr.  Merrill  will  lose  ten  dollars !  " 
explained  Anna. 

"  Pooh !     What  is  ten  dollars?  " 

Anna  looked  at  him  in  wonder.  Then  being 
bankrupt  in  words  and  overstocked  in  tears  she 
produced  the  latter. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  45 

"  Why  do  you  care  so  much,  do  you  love 
them?  "  he  asked. 

She  quieted  a  moment.     "  I  love  the  baby." 

"If  you  do  not  love  them  why  do  you  so  much 
mind  their  displeasure?  " 

Again  she  looked  at  him,  again  she  wondered. 

"  Did  they  pay  you  a  large  salary  ?  "  he  con- 
tinued. 

Such  a  stupendous  idea  must  be  seen  clearly. 
She  wiped  her  eyes. 

"  They  did  not  pay  me  any  money.  Yes, 
they  did  too.  They  gave  me  some  money.  I 
had  ten  cents  for  car  fare  every  Sunday,  but  the 
rest  of  my  pay  was  board  and  clothes." 

For  the  first  time  the  boy  turned  his  eyes  to 
her  apparel.  He  saw  a  neatly  made  muslin 
dress,  a  pretty  straw  hat,  a  pair  of  well-fitting 
shoes.  He  estimated  the  whole  cost  to  be  a 
couple  of  dollars;  but  he  was  only  a  boy  and 
he  was  mistaken  —  it  would  have  footed  up 
double  that  amount. 

It  was  growing  dark;  the  street  lights  were 
on;  a  passing  policeman  gave  them  a  searching 
look. 

"  Come,"  said  the  boy,  "  I  will  take  you  to 
your  friends." 

"  I  have  no  friends." 


46  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"No  friends  in  all  this  big  city?"  questioned 
he,  puzzled. 

"  I  did  have  one,"  explained  the  girl,  "  but  she 
had  to  go  away  for  a  rest." 

"  Perhaps  you  have  acquaintances  across  the 
Bay?" 

Anna  shook  her  head.  A  helpless  look  stole 
into  the  boy's  face,  but  rallying,  l^e  said :  "  I 
know  one  man  here;  rather  a  good  old  fellow; 
he  will  be  able  to  tell  me  where  you  can  be  com- 
fortable for  the  night.  I  am  a  stranger,  myself, 
in  San  Francisco." 

When  they  reached  the  one  man  the  boy 
knew,  the  whole  city  lay  between  them  and  the 
deaf  door  bell. 

D.  Porwancher  had  a  jeweller's  shop  on  the 
ground  floor.  Above,  lived  Mrs.  Lacey,  de- 
scribed by  him  as  a  lady  with  a  kind  heart,  who 
would  not  see  the  girl  go  shelterless  for  the 
night.  He  accompanied  the  boy  and  girl  up- 
stairs and  stated  the  case.  Mrs.  Lacey  rose 
splendidly  to  the  occasion.  She  would  give  up 
her  bedroom-parlor  for  the  night  and  sleep  on 
the  wash  bench  in  the  laundry-kitchen,  herself. 
Mrs.  Lacey  insisted  that  she  lived  in  a  four- 
room  apartment.  And  didn't  she?  When  the 
folding  bed  folded  wasn't  there  a  parlor.  When 


MRS.   LACEY   ROSE   SPLENDIDLY    TO   THE   OCCASION— Page   40. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  47 

it  unfolded  "  sure  and  it's  a  bedroom."  Like- 
wise, when  the  potatoes  were  cooking  wasn't  the 
back  room  a  kitchen;  and  when  the  wash  board 
went  "  rub-a-dub-dub "  wasn't  it  proof  of  a 
laundry? 

By  the  time  everybody  had  become  acquainted 
it  was  so  early  that  it  was  the  next  day,  and  the 
boy  asked  Mrs.  Lacey  if  she  could  accommodate 
him  also,  for  the  night. 

Mrs.  Lacey  gave  him  a  look.  She  had  given 
up  her  bed  to  sleep  on  a  board.  Did  he  want 
the  board,  too?  She  was  speechless.  She  was 
also  wrinkled.  She  was  fifty  years  old  and 
looked  sixty.  She  had  drudged  in  other  peo- 
ple's kitchens  till  she  married  —  she  had  drudged 
in  her  own  ever  since.  To  kitchen  drudgery  had 
been  added  the  bearing  and  nursing  of  a  dozen 
children.  Eventually,  the  mother  and  drudge 
became  the  wage  earner  —  over  a  washtub;  the 
drunken  husband  had  grown  tired  and  gone,  no 
one  knew  where.  The  children,  too,  were  gone, 
most  of  them  dead,  and  the  living  with  nothing 
to  spare.  So  she  was  still  drudging.  She  had, 
as  D.  Porwancher  said,  a  kind  heart  —  out  of 
no  other  sort  can  a  satisfactory  drudge  be  made. 
She  had  also  easy  morals  —  for  others.  Out  of 
her  long  and  unvaried  experience,  she  had 


48  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

evolved  a  philosophy  —  for  others.  It  was : 
"  Don't  work ;  there's  nothing  in  it." 

The  boy  stood  waiting  her  reply.     It  came. 

"  The  lady  is  ayther  your  sister  or  your  wife. 
Ye  can  take  the  sofy  and  she,  the  bed,"  and  with 
royal  tread  she  passed  to  the  wash  bench. 

They  looked  at  each  other  —  the  boy  and  the 
girl. 

"  It  is  nearly  morning  and  I  am  not  sleepy ;  I 
will  sit  in  the  hall  till  daylight,"  said  he. 

"  No,  we  can  both  sit  up,  and  this  sofa  is 
more  comfortable  than  the  hall  stairs,"  said  the 
girl 

They  talked ;  he  told  her  he  had  become  ac- 
quainted with  D.  Porwancher  through  the  boys 
—  the  University  boys,  he  explained.  D.  Por- 
wancher accommodated  them  on  the  side  — 
literally,  in  the  back  room.  It  was  pretty  gener- 
ally known  at  the  "  U  "  that  he  would  supply 
cash  on  any  article  of  value,  and  he  had  the 
reputation  of  being  honest  and  easy  in  the  matter 
of  time. 

D.  Porwancher  had  lost  his  family  twenty 
years  before  and  cared  only,  so  he  said,  to  make 
a  living  for  himself  and  Girt.  Girt  was  a  dog. 
The  boy  continued  to  talk.  He  was  attending 
the  University  at  Berkeley;  he  had  been  there 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  49 

but  a  month;  he  had  never  been  in  the  United 
States  before;  he  was  an  Hawaiian;  his  father 
had  come  up  the  Pacific  with  him  and  got  him 
settled  in  apartments  with  another  student  — 
Carl  Stoft.  His  own  name  was  Ralph  Young. 

Very  tired  was  the  girl  and  his  voice  began 
to  sound  far  off.  When  finally,  her  head  tipped, 
forward,  he  guided  it  to  his  shoulder  and  felt  a 
delicious  sense  of  protecting  strength. 

But  he,  too,  was  tireder  than  he  knew,  and  his 
own  head  drooped  toward  hers  and  both  slept  — 
babes  in  the  woods. 

Next  day,  constituting  himself  and  Mrs.  Lacey 
a  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means,  a  meeting 
was  called  in  the  Laundry-Kitchen  Department 
where  Ralph  transacted  much  business  —  but 
none  at  Berkeley. 

The  building  occupied  by  D.  Porwancher  and 
Mrs.  Lacey,  though  new,  had  a  history.  It  cov- 
ered every  square  inch  of  a  tiny  oblong  of 
ground  which  cut  a  chunk  out  of  a  magnificent 
corner  lot.  For  a  decade  the  owner  of  the  ob- 
long had  held  it  at  a  prohibitive  price  to  the 
corner  lot  owners  whose  land  it  defaced.  The 
corner  owners  in  turn  demanded  half  the  money 
in  the  U.  S.  Mint  before  they  would  sell  to  the 
city  for  municipal  purposes. 


50  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Jimmie  Bates  had  done  business  in  the  city 
for  ten  years.  Jimmie  Bates  had  waited  fifteen 
years  to  marry  one  of  three  capable  sisters  who 
lived  in  a  distant  county.  He  was  thirty-eight, 
she,  thirty-five. 

A  bedridden  mother  and  a  debtridden  farm 
had  held  the  three  sisters  loyally  together.  At 
last  a  great  idea  was  born  to  Jimmie.  He  took 
the  ferry  and  showed  his  scheme  to  the  three 
sisters.  He  would  lease  the  oblong  and  put  up 
a  building  to  be  operated  by  the  three  sisters  as 
a  Business  Woman's  Dining  Room  with  Home 
Cooking,  while  the  upper  floor  would  be  their 
residence.  He  planned  yet  further  in  his  heart 
but  of  that  he  said  nothing.  The  three  capa- 
ble sisters  agreed,  and  provided  with  their  own 
hands  home  cooking  that  was  really  home 
cooked.  They  threw  open  the  wide  front  door. 
A  passing  stenographer  strayed  in;  then  a  mil- 
liner or  two,  and  finally  the  best  kind  of  adver- 
tising began  to  tell  —  free  advertising.  How 
they  came  for  the  home  cooking  that  was  really 
home  cooked !  Women  doctors,  women  lawyers, 
women  journalists,  women  brokers,  women  den- 
tists, women  notaries  public! 

One  day  the  mother  died.  Jimmie  gave  a  con- 
cealed sigh  of  relief.  Two  months  later,  the 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  51 

eldest  capable  sister  went  to  her  eternal  rest  — 
over-work  and  typhoid.  The  two  remaining 
sisters  went  back  to  the  old  home.  Jimmie  tried 
to  sublet.  It  was  easy.  Many  jealous  eyes  had 
noted  the  money -making  business  of  the  sisters. 
They,  too,  would  gather  wealth  from  hungry 
business  women.  By  the  most  effective  adver- 
tising in  the  world  —  failure  to  deliver  the 
goods  —  there  was  no  trade  in  a  month.  Jim- 
mie turned  the  key  in  the  wide  front  door.  The 
key  remained  turned.  A  boy  was  paid  to  stay 
in  the  building  at  night  —  he  slept  elsewhere. 
Jimmie  chanced  upon  Mrs.  Lacey  and  gave  her 
two  rooms  rent  free  in  exchange  for  her  serv- 
ices in  showing  the  other  rooms  to  would-be 
tenants  —  who  never  called.  Jimmie  reduced 
the  rent.  Then  he  reduced  it  again.  At  the  sec- 
ond reduction,  D.  Porwancher  took  the  ground 
floor  and  put  in  half-length  partitions.  He 
transacted  business  in  front  and  kept  house  in 
the  back  with  Girt.  Later  three  front  rooms 
above  stairs  were  taken  for  business  offices  re- 
quiring elegant  furniture  but  no  accompanying 
manager.  A  boy,  prematurely  experienced  and 
immaturely  developed,  remained  in  the  rooms 
from  9  A.M.  to  4  P.M.;  if  callers  arrived  he 
telephoned  somewhere  and  a  "  manager  "  came 


52  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

promptly  in  response,  though  rarely  the  samr  v-.e 
twice. 

"  A  fake,"  said  Mrs.  Lacey,  ''  and  a  \vhole 
gang  workin'  it." 

Between  these  offices  and  Mrs.  Lacey's  four- 
roomed  apartment  was  a  large  empty  room  with 
alcove  and  wardrobe  closet.  Three  spacious 
windows  looked  joyously  out  over  the  vacant 
corner  lot.  Long  would  the  sunshine  pour  into 
those  windows  undimmed  by  nearby  building. 
Gloriously  it  rolled  in  as  Mrs.  Lacey  showed  the 
room  to  Ralph,  while  informing  him  that  it  could 
be  had  for  a  song.  Ralph  produced  the  song 
and  Mrs.  Lacey  delivered  the  room.  The  fur- 
nishings would  take  several  songs,  but  Ralph 
obligated  himself  to  procure  them.  Here  Anna 
was  to  remain  comfortably  till  they  could  see 
better  things  for  her.  To  her,  Ralph  explained 
somewhat. 

"  I  can  get  whatever  I  wish  but  it  will  require 
'a  little  calculation.  You  see,  it's  this  way. 
Father  limits  me  only  in  cash.  He  arranged 
with  my  banker  to  introduce  me  personally  to 
every  business  house  in  Berkeley  and  as  many 
reputable  firms  in  Oakland  and  San  Francisco 
as  I  might  desire  and  any  bills  coming  from 
them  signed  by  me  will  be  paid  by  the  banker; 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  53 

all  bills  to  be  sent  later  to  my  father.  If  I  want 
to  go  to  the  theatre,  I  don't  pay  for  my  ticket, 
but  sign  for  the  price  of  it  and  that  is  sent  to 
the  bank.  If  I  paid  five  dollars  per  ticket  and 
took  a  dozen  friends,  father  wouldn't  care,  and 
yet  he  allows  me  only  twenty  dollars  a  week 
which  is  to  be  used  for  board,  lodgings  and  other 
current  expenses.  When  those  are  paid  there 
is  nothing  left  to  harm  myself  with.  I  think 
father  is  terribly  afraid  I  might  be  led  into 
gambling.  Being  already  established  in  rooms 
in  Berkeley,  a  bill  for  furniture  could  not  rea- 
sonably be  sent  to  father,  but  I'll  think  it  out." 

How  he  thought  it  out  Anna  did  not  learn  for 
several  days,  but  on  the  very  next  one  a  great 
load  came  for  the  sunshine  room. 

On  Wednesday,  Ralph  thought  he  had  better 
make  a  showing  in  his  classes,  so  it  was  not  till 
Thursday  that  he  and  Anna  and  a  Japanese  boy 
set  about  arranging  the  big,  airy  room.  School 
saw  him  no  more  for  a  week.  The  Jap  cleaned 
the  room  and  Ralph  applied  a  wide  border  of 
stain  around  the  floor.  Shades  went  up  at  the 
windows  and  creamy  lace  curtains,  a  great  cen- 
tral rug  was  laid,  the  white  and  gold  bed  and 
bureau  were  placed  in  the  alcove,  the  white  and 
gold  clock  set  on  a  shelf,  a  lounge  with  a  score 


54  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

of  silk  cushions,  a  wide  arm-chair,  a  low  rocker, 
a  book-case,  a  center  table  and  a  six-foot  wall 
mirror  were  arranged  as  Anna  directed,  and  a 
half:dozen  pictures  were  hung  at  her  dictation. 
When  she  wondered  out  loud  how  he  could  have 
thought  of  so  many  pretty  things,  Ralph  con- 
fessed that  he  just  turned  the  whole  question  over 
to  an  outfitter  telling  him  to  provide  everything 
necessary  for  a  lady's  comfort,  limited  only  by 
the  dimensions  of  the  room. 

"  The  pictures  I  chose  myself,"  he  stated  with 
some  pride.  They  were  water  colors  and  en- 
gravings of  landscape  and  ocean. 

"  The  book-case  I  left  empty  that  you  might 
fill  it  with  such  books  as  you  may  wish." 

When  the  room  was  all  ready  for  occupancy 
it  occurred  to  them  that  they  had  assumed  that 
Anna  would  live  on  air.  One  corner  was  im- 
mediately labeled  "  Dining  Room,"  portieres 
hung  across  it,  and  a  shelf,  gas  plate,  table  and 
dishes  put  within.  Then  all  three,  Anna  and 
Ralph  and  Mrs.  Lacey  seated  themselves  to  de- 
cide the  ponderous  problem  of  groceries.  With 
list  in  hand  Ralph  went  to  the  nearest  store  and 
in  an  hour  the  Dining  Room  was  piled  high  with 
packages,  tins  and  bags,  smelling  of  sugar  and 
spice  and  everything  nice. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  55 

Mrs.  Lacey  looked  on  in  delight  and  kindly 
said  that  if  Anrta  ever  wanted  to  "  roast  ony- 
thing  "  she  was  welcome  to  her  laundry-kitchen 
stove. 

All  being  settled  Mrs.  Lacey  got  Ralph  to  one 
side  to  remark  that  he  ought  to  send  for  Anna's 
trunk  as  she  would  need  her  good  clothes  to 
match  her  "  foine  "  room. 

Ralph  was  grateful  for  the  hint  and  asked  if 
she  would  accompany  Anna  for  necessary  pur- 
chases. 

"  That  I  will,"  she  answered  heartily. 

When  he  inquired  the  sum  of  money  needed 
she  said,  "  Well  suits  do  be  dirt  cheap  just  now," 
and  she  thought  that  a  hundred  dollars  would 
cover  a  comfortable  outfitting. 

With  the  requisite  money  she  and  Anna  made 
the  delightful  tour  of  hat,  suit  and  lingerie  shops 
while  Ralph  went  back  to  school  to  try  to  buckle 
on  the  sober,  brown  harness  of  study,  after  hav- 
ing pranced  about  in  green  fields  for  a  whole 
week  without  so  much  as  a  head  stall. 

The  Sunday  following,  Ralph  came  over  and 
he  and  Anna  went  out  to  Golden  Gate  Park. 
Sitting  on  the  green  grass  he  told  her  how  he 
did  "  think  it  out." 

"  Carl  Stoft  and  I  occupy,  together,  a  suite 


56  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

of  rooms  at  Berkeley,  as  I  told  you  that  first 
time  we  met.  Unlike  me,  Carl  pays  his  own 
bills,  and  his  father  is  rather  liberal.  I  frankly 
told  him  that  I  was  writing  my  father  for 
money,  but  that  I  was  hard  up  against  it  till  it 
should  arrive.  He  asked  me  how  much  would 
keep  me  afloat  and  gave  me  his  check  on  the  bank 
for  the  amount. 

Albert  Young,  at  Hilo  Bay  received  Ralph's 
letter :  — 

"  DEAR  DAD  :  —  the  dearest  in  the  whole  world,  I  am 
writing  to  ask  for  money.  I  have  every  personal  need 
supplied  plentifully,  extravagantly,  but  you  will  admit,  I 
think,  that  you  do  keep  me  short  on  cash.  I  want  to  do 
something  fine  for  a  friend  —  a  friend  in  need  —  and 
there  are  some  things  that  can't  decently  be  done  on  credit. 
I  give  you  my  word  that  this  matter  is  honorable  in  every 
sense." 

A  cablegram  replied  :  — 

"Am  cabling  banker  to  place  one  thousand  dollars  a* 
your  command ;  would  just  as  soon  make  it  ten  thousand 
if  it  would  not  injure  you..  It's  all  right  Laddie,  only 
don't  deceive  me.  I  couldn't  bear  that."  • 

Delighted,  Ralph  showed  it  to  Anna  who  little 
guessed  that  those  few  words  had  cost  the  price 
of  a  pretty  dress. 

Albert  Young's  first  child  was  to  be  a  boy, 
to  learn,  side  by  side  with  him,  to  handle  his 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  57 

great  interests  in  the  land  of  the  big  moon.  It 
was  a  girl.  The  girl  died.  Not  for  four  years 
did  hope  spring  anew.  Then  a  child  came.  It 
was  a  girl.  This  babe  lived  and  seemed  to  be 
the  last,  for  seven  years  passed  before  the 
dreamed  of,  the  prayed  for,  arrived. 

The  boy  had  come!  The  beautiful  boy! 
The  boy  who  grew  more  beautiful!  The  boy, 
who  at  six  years  rode  his  pony  like  the  wind  — 
or  a  Hawaiian;  the  speed  is  the  same.  Who 
at  ten  years  could  swim  and  dive  like  a  fish  — 
or  a  Hawaiian;  they  are  peers.  Who  mastered 
mathematics  as  most  children  do  their  readers. 
Who  at  sixteen  had  become  an  invaluable  aid 
in  the  gigantic  enterprises  of  his  father.  Yet, 
Albert  Young,  holding  his  hand  hard  against  his 
own  heart,  had  sent  that  boy  afar  —  to  get  the 
best  that  learning  could  give.  When  Ralph  was 
eight  years  old,  Albert  Young  stumbled  upon  a 
diamond  in  the  streets  of  Honolulu  —  and  knew 
it  to  be  a  diamond.  Hermann  Burckhardt  was 
only  twenty-eight  years  old  when  he  consented 
to  accompany  Albert  Young  to  Hilo  Bay  as  tutor 
to  Ralph  and  had  named  a  salary  so  modest  that 
Albert  Young  doubled  it.  Hermann  Burckhardt 
was  in  the  islands  to  study  their  geologic  forma- 
tion, so  he  said,  but  the  only  excursions  he  was 


58  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

ever  known  to  make  were  in  the  company  of  his 
pupil  for  the  latter's  instruction.  Ralph's  books 
were  wing,  fin,  blossom  and  stone;  his  class 
room,  all  out  doors.  When  Hermann  Burck- 
hardt  had  been  at  Hilo  Bay  for  four  years  he 
gave  Albert  Young  two  day's  notice  of  his  de- 
parture. 

Albert  Young  replied :  "  Hermann  Burck- 
hardt,  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  are  yours  if 
you  will  remain  four  years  longer  with  my 
boy." 

Two  days  later  an  inter-island  boat  carried 
Hermann  Burckhardt  to  Honolulu  and  a  Pacific 
steamer  took  him  thence.  Whatever  the  bar- 
riers which  had  corralled  him  on  Hawaii,  the 
bars  were  then  down  and  he  sprang  through  the 
opening.  Was  his  name  Hermann  Burckhardt? 
They  never  knew. 

It  was  the  fourth  Sunday  since  Ralph  and 
Anna  had  tried  to  be  sociable  with  the  untalka- 
tive  door  bell  and  Ralph  had  come  over  from 
Berkeley,  They  were  going  out  to  the  beach. 
Anna  wore  a  dark  blue  suit  and  hat  which  she 
and  Mrs.  Lacey  had  selected. 

They  boarded  a  car  and  chattered  till  it  reached 
Sutro  Station.  They  left  the  car  and  chattered 
on  till  they  reached  the  beach.  They  strolled 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  59 

on  the  sand,  they  bought  peanuts,  they  climbed 
Sutro  Heights,  they  stood  on  the  parapet  and 
looked  out  over  the  ship-specked  ocean,  and  when 
the  sun  had  swelled  and  dimmed,  they  entered  a 
town-bound  car  and  chattered  all  the  way  back 
to  Anna's  room  where  they  had  tea  and  sand- 
wiches and  then  all  the  glory  faded  out  of  their 
sky  —  Ralph  had  to  leave  to  catch  the  ferry. 

Wednesday  he  came  over  with  tickets  for  the 
theatre. 

"  Oh,  what  a  large  picture !  "  exclaimed  Anna. 
It  was  the  beautiful  landscape  on  the  stage  cur- 
tain. "  And  such  a  lovely  frame,  just  electric 
lights !  "  she  went  on  to  Ralph's  wonderment, 
for  he  had  yet  to  learn  that,  except  in  God's  free 
gallery  she  had  seen  nor  stage  nor  play. 

"  The  ceiling's  almost  as  pretty  as  the  sky  at 
night  —  it's  blue  just  like  it,  and  it's  all  spangled 
with  electric  lights  that  are  brighter  than  the 
stars,  only  there  aren't  so  many,"  she  prattled 
on. 

The  boy  looked  at  her,  joying  in  her  joy, 
though  he  could  not  understand  it. 

"Oh,  it's  a  fairy  story!"  This  when  the 
white-plumed  caps  of  the  men  and  the  spangled 
silks  of  the  women  came  into  view. 

Hours  later  they  had  supper  to  the  music  of 


60  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

an  orchestra,  a  car  ride  home,  a  little  chatting 
in  Anna's  room  —  then  Ralph  must  get  back  to 
Berkeley.  He  glanced  at  the  white  and  gold 
clock,  took  out  his  watch  and  estimated :  "  Seven 
minutes  to  catch  the  last  ferry;  time  needed, 
twenty;  can't  be  caught." 

He  replaced  his  watch  and  fished  in  his  other 
pockets  for  gold  and  silver. 

"  Five  cents  for  car  fare  in  the  morning,"  he 
announced  triumphantly,  "  ten  cents  for  ferry 
transportation,"  holding  up  the  proof,  "  and  ten 
cents  left  for  lodgings." 

Then  he  laughed,  "  Me  for  Mrs.  Lacey's  wash- 
bench." 

"  Oh,  no !  It's  nearly  morning,"  said  Anna 
as  once  before.  "  We  can  both  sit  up  and  this 
room  is  more  comfortable  than  the  kitchen." 

But  it  was  different.  Then  she  was  sorrow- 
ful and  he  sorry.  Now  they  were  both  happy, 
happy,  happy! 


Ill 

In  time,  it  came  to  be  Anna's  custom,  if  she 
awoke,  to  slip  on  a  pretty  kimono  and  make  a 
cup  of  coffee  for  Ralph  before  he  left  for  school, 
but  if  she  slept,  he  kissed  her  very  lightly  and 
went  out  with  a  soft  "  Aloha !  " 

"  Do  you  like  Grand  Opera  ?  "  he  asked  her 
one  evening. 

Anna  didn't  know,  she  had  never  heard  one. 

"  You  shall  have  a  chance  to  find  out." 

The  next  week  she  discovered  that  she  liked 
it  —  she  was  certain  of  it;  it  was  angel  land  and 
every  angel  had  a  good  voice. 

Ralph  did  not  give  his  undivided  attention  to 
the  angels.  He  was  perfectly  conscious  of  the 
girl  at  his  side.  There  was  not  a  prettier  one 
in  sight  —  but  they  were  all  better  dressed!  A 
fact  he  could  not  understand  when  he  knew  her 
clothes  to  be  new,  up-to-date  and  of  the  best 
material.  He  set  to  work  to  "  think  it  out  "  and 
he  did.  Anna  was  in  a  street  suit,  the  others  in 
full  evening  dress! 

They  talked  it  over  that  night  and  next  day 
61 


62  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Anna  and  Mrs.  Lacey  undertook  another  en- 
trancing expedition. 

The  following  evening  Anna  lay  sound  asleep 
on  the  lounge  of  silken  pillows  while  Ralph  sat 
digging  at  school  work  which  had  piled  the 
higher  from  his  previous  night's  neglect. 

When  he  returned  from  school  next  day  he 
opened  the  door  upon  a  strange  woman  sitting  in 
the  big  arm-chair.  Her  head  drooped  forward 
and  a  large  hat  shaded  her  face.  No  common 
person,  she!  Her  clothes  proclaimed  taste  and 
money.  A  pale  blue  silk  dress  peeped  from  a 
long,  white  cloak  and  the  white  hat  was  covered 
with  ostrich  tips.  He  couldn't  "  think  it  out." 
When  he  had  stood  irresolute  as  long  as  the  lady 
thought  proper,  she  sprang  up  and  threw  her 
arms  about  his  neck.  From  behind  the  Dining 
Room  portieres  came  a  hearty,  boisterous  laugh, 
while  between  the  curtains  poked  Mrs.  Lacey's 
head. 

"  Do  you  like  them  ?  "  asked  the  lady  in  white. 

Ralph  looked  her  over  and  approved  and  at 
the  opera  that  night  he  compared  her  with  the 
best  dressers  and  was  satisfied. 

"What  does  'Aloha'  mean?"  asked  Anna 
one  morning,  as  Ralph  was  leaving  her  with  the 
word  on  his  lips. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  63 

With  his  hand  on  the  door  knob  he  paused: 
"Why,  'Aloha'  means  everything  that  is  kind  and 
nothing  that  is  not.  It  means  '  Good  day ' ;  it 
means  '  Good-bye  ' ;  '  it  means  friendliness ;  it 
means,  '  I  love  you  ' ;  but  unlike  the  word  '  love,' 
it  can  be  sent  through  any  third  person,  from 
anyone  to  anyone,  without  offense,  because  it  sig- 
nifies whatever  the  receiver  interprets  it  to  say, 
with  the  certitude  that  only  kindness  is  intended. 
Is  it  clear,  Anna?  " 

Being  assured  that  it  was,  he  hurried  on  to 
school. 

One  Sunday  they  took  an  automobile  ride, 
stopping  at  the  orphanage  for  John,  who  sat  with 
the  chauffeur.  Wildly  flew  John's  hair,  ditto 
his  tongue,  likewise  his  head  in  attempts  to  see 
both  sides  of  the  street  at  once.  It  was  John's 
habit  each  time  he  met  Anna,  to  tell  her  that 
when  he  got  big  he  would  buy  a  house  for  her ; 
to-day  he  added,  "  and  a  automobile." 

On  his  return  from  school  one  afternoon 
Ralph  found  Anna  darning  a  pair  of  his  socks. 

"  Oh,  throw  the  things  away !  I  wouldn't 
wear  them,  dear,  if  you  did  repair  them,"  he  ex- 
plained. "  I  don't  think  they  would  feel  good. 
I  never  have  worn  a  mended  pair." 

One  dav  Anna  mounted  the  stairs  of  the  For- 


64  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

wancher-Lacey  house  just  ahead  of  on'e  of  the 
many  "  managers  "  of  the  offices  adjoining  her 
room.  At  the  top  he  paused  till  she  entered  the 
Middle  Room. 

Though  she  closed  her  door,  he  remained 
standing  watching  it;  but  she  did  not  reappear. 
He  paced  back  and  forth  past  the  door,  still  it 
did  not  open.  Finally,  he  sauntered  down  the 
corridor  to  the  laundry-kitchen  firm.  The  soap- 
suds lady  was  communing  with  the  wash-board 
in  front,  oblivious  of  the  apparition  at  her 
back. 

Without  preliminaries  he  said,  "  Who's  the 
little  peach  in  the  middle  room?  " 

The  wash-board  lady  unbent  her  back ;  the  un- 
bent lady  faced  him.  The  straightened-up  lady 
answered  him,  "  It's  me  niece !  " 

"  Oh,  there's  a  watchdog  in  the  case,  is  there?  " 
But  he  left.  "  Business  "  called  him  to  the  of- 
fices the  next  day  and  the  next  and  for  many 
days.  In  time  he  chanced  to  see  Ralph  enter 
with  ease  the  door  so  persistently  closed. 

"  Ah !  the  man  in  the  case,"  he  proclaimed  to 
himself.  Then  he  proceeded  to  the  tub-bent 
lady. 

"  Good  day !  "  she  heard  close  behind  her. 

Again  she  unbent  her  back;  again  she  faced 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  65 

him.  He  spoke  again,  "  Is  the  swell  who  visits 
the  middle  room,  your  nephew  ?  " 

The  lady  of  the  foaming  tubs  put  her  hands 
on  her  hips.  "  It's  a  young  man  what  is  keepin' 
company  with  me  niece  —  with  me  corjil  ap- 
proval." 

"  And  endorsed  by  the  police,"  added  the 
"  manager  "  of  the  empty  offices. 

One  day  Anna  came  home  from  shopping  and 
found  Ralph  at  study  in  the  big  arm-chair.  To- 
gether they  made  oyster  soup  and  a  salad ;  opened 
a  can  of  fruit  and  sliced  the  bread  —  when  they 
arose  from  the  meal  there  was  nothing  left  but 
the  dishes. 

In  due  time  a  whisper  was  heard.  The  city 
turned  its  ear  to  listen.  The  whisper  multiplied. 
It  was  Christmas,  Christmas,  everywhere. 

Ralph  had  asked  Anna  what  she  wished  and 
Anna  had  inquired  of  Ralph  what  he  desired. 
They  had  selected  John's  present  and  now  they 
were  discussing  suitable  gifts  for  D.  Porwancher 
and  Mrs.  Lacey. 

"  I  want  to  do  the  handsome  thing  by  Mrs. 
Lacey,"  Ralph  had  said,  "  for  we  are  under  many 
obligations  to  her." 

"  I'll  give  her  dress  goods  and  gloves,"  said 
Anna. 


66  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"  I  shall  give  her  pure,  unadulterated  money," 
declared  Ralph.  "  I  am  always  so  short  of  it 
myself  that  nothing  looks  so  good  to  me." 

That  was  how  the  soap-and-starch  lady  came 
to  find  five  twenty-dollar  gold  pieces  on  her  wash- 
bench  Christmas  morning. 

On  New  Year's  eve,  Anna  initiated  Ralph  into 
carnival  life,  where  they  blew  tin  horns,  threw 
confetti,  laughed  at  everything  and  joked  with 
everybody  all  down  Market  Street  and  back  till 
midnight,  when  they  were  glad  to  cover  their 
ears  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  while  ten  thousand 
horns  blew  simultaneously,  and  every  bell  and 
whistle  in  the  city  spoke. 

Once  Anna  threw  a  handful  of  confetti  in  the 
face  of  a  policeman,  which  he  caught  and  tossed 
back,  in  the  spirit  of  the  night. 

"  It's  jolly  fun,"  said  Ralph. 

One  quiet  evening  at  home  Ralph  looked  up 
from  a  book  to  say,  "  Come  here,  Anna,  I  want 
to  show  you  something." 

Anna  tripped  over  to  his  chair. 

"  That's  almost  a  counterpart  of  my  home," 
pointing  to  a  picture. 

"Why,  it's  just  like  Golden  Gate  Park!"  she 
exclaimed. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  67 

"  That's  the  Honolulu  house,  but  the  one  I 
love  is  the  one  at  Hilo  Bay.  I  was  born  there, 
my  pony  was  born  there;  Kalani  was  orphaned 
there  and  became  my  playmate  brother  and 
there  Hermann  Burckhardt  taught  me  for  four 
years.  Not  far  from  the  living  house  is  my  play 
house.  It  was  built  before  I  can  remember;  it 
is  one  story  with  open  sides  and  grass  roof  but 
covers  as  much  ground  as  this  entire  building. 
I  have  played  in  it  with  Kalani  all  my  life  when 
the  weather  was  bad.  When  we  got  well 
enough  acquainted  with  Hermann  Burckhardt  to 
be  sure  we  liked  him,  we  allowed  him  to  come 
and  play  with  us.  There's  everything  in  it,  from 
a  baby's  rattle  to  a  trapeze  bar.  Everywhere 
about  are  palm  trees,  banana  groves,  tree  ferns 
and  vines,  till  places  become  jungles.  And 
the  cascades!  Baby  cascades,  grandfather  cas- 
cades; oh,  cascades  by  the  single,  double  and 
dozen.  One  minute  rainbows  laugh  at  you 
through  feathery  showers,  and  the  next,  the 
sun's  smile  has  dried  your  garments.  Then 
comes  another  tear,  another  rainbow  and  an- 
other smile.  Do  you  know,  Anna,  it  seems 
gloomy  here  without  the  rainbows.  Hundreds 
of  them;  thousands  of  them!  Dear  Rainbow 


68  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Land!  And  the  moonlight!  The  moon  is  four 
times  as  large  as  it  is  here.  I  never  went  to  bed 
on  moonlight  nights." 

"  Mercy !  did  you  sleep  all  day  ?  " 

Ralph  laughed,  "  I  rode  part  of  the  night,  then 
I  lay  on  the  veranda  and  slept  the  rest  of  the 
time.  Some  day  you'll  see  my  Hilo  home  and 
some  day  you'll  own  it  Anna,  and  we'll  ride  all 
night  under  the  big  moon  and  the  brightest  stars 
you  ever  saw." 

D.  Porwancher  gave  a  party  one  night  —  a 
birthday  party.  Girt  was  nine  years  old.  The 
Middle-Room  folks  were  invited,  so  was  the 
wash-bench  lady.  There  was  a  turkey  roasted  by 
D.  Porwancher  himself.  Girt  got  the  first  help- 
ing. There  was  a  cake  with  nine  candles,  and  a 
candy  dog  on  top.  Girt  got  the  first  cut.  D. 
Porwancher  poured  the  wine  and  all  drank  many 
happy  returns  to  Girt.  Three  glasses  were  empty 
and  one  was  full.  An  explanation  was  called 
for  and  everybody  laughed  when  Anna  said  that 
her  wine  was  bitter. 

"  I  wish  we  could  have  a  whole  arrnful  of 
fresh  flowers  in  a  great  big  jar  here  in  the  room 
all  the  time.  I  do  love  flowers,"  said  Anna  one 
day. 

"  Nothing  easier  than  that,"  asserted  Ralph. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  69 

"  A  bill  for  flowers  explains  itself.  An  obvious 
interpretation  would  read,  '  Fresh  flowers  daily 
for  bachelor  apartments.'  " 

Next  day  a  tabouret  and  jardiniere  came  to  the 
Middle  Room  and  the  day  following  six  dozen 
La  France  roses  nodded  at  Anna  from  the  "  great 
big  jar."  As  fast  as  the  "  armful "  expired 
Anna  proclaimed  their  successor  to  Ralph,  who 
in  turn  spoke  their  name  to  the  florist. 

On  a  morning  after  an  evening  at  the  theatre, 
where  Anna  had  again  worn  the  beautiful  white 
cloak  and  hat,  a  fellow  student  said  to  Ralph 
as  they  sat  in  recitation,  "  Say,  that  was  a  classy 
little  girl  you  had  with  you  at  the  show  last 
night !  " 

"  Sure,  did  you  think  I'd  have  any  other 
kind  ?  "  returned  Ralph. 

One  Sunday  in  February  a  great  idea  came  to 
Ralph.  He  shared  it  with  Anna.  "  Let's  go 
out  to  the  Park  and  sit  on  that  bench,  near  the 
merry-go-round,  and  say  the  same  things  to  each 
other,  walk  the  same  walks,  listen  to  the  music 
and  run  for  a  car  at  last,  just  as  we  did  that 
first  Sunday  we  met." 

Anna  agreed  merrily  and  the  program  was 
carried  out.  That  evening  she  seated  herself  in 
the  big  arm-chair  —  Ralph  already  occupied  it. 


70  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"  I  didn't  feel  the  same  to-day  in  the  merry- 
go-round  as  I  did  that  first  time  we  rode  together 
in  it." 

There  was  an  aggrieved  tone  in  her  voice. 
"  When  our  shoulders  joggled  together,  I  didn't 
feel  any  little  shiver  at  all." 

Ralph  put  both  arms  around  her.  "  Neither 
did  I,  but  this  is  a  thousand  times  better;  is  .it 
not  so  to  you,  Anna?  " 

For  answer,  she  reached  her  arms  up  about 
his  neck  and  drew  them  tight. 

There  came  a*  stormy  night  when  the  wind 
shook  the  Middle  Room  with  ever-increasing 
shudders.  The  unreasoning  terror  of  the  help- 
less sick,  exhibited  by  Anna's  mother  since  the 
child  could  remember,  had  engendered  a  morbid 
fear,  in  both  herself  and  John.  To-night,  added 
to  the  tumult  of  wind  roar  and  hissing  rain,  two 
earth  jars  rippled  through  the  house  to  accelerate 
Anna's  quivering  nerves.  She  sat  up  in  bed  and 
put  her  fingers  in  her  ears;  "but  the  periodic 
tremors  reached  another  sense. 

To  quiet  her,  Ralph  talked :  "  Kilauea  was  the 
first  to  rock  my  cradle ;  night  after  night  Pele 
has  swayed  me  to  sleep;  morning  after  morning 
she  has  jostled  me  awake,  but  she  never  harmed 
a  hair  of  my  head  —  she  was  simply  brusque  in 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  71 

her  caressings.     I'll  tell  you  a  story  of  Pele  that 
Joe  used  to  tell  me : 

"  A  Kamaaina  was  surf-boat  riding  one  evening  when 
Pele,  five  thousand  feet  tall,  stood  up  to  look  over  her  do- 
main. At  once  a  strong  desire  seized  her  to  ride  a  surf- 
board. Shrinking  her  stature  and  putting  on  a  girdle  of 
ti  leaves  and  a  lei  of  jessamines,  she  approached  the  man, 
begging  to  be  allowed  the  use  of  his  board.  He,  supposing 
her  to  be  a  bold  woman,  refused  with  an  insulting  answer. 
The  goddess  waited,  apparently  humiliated,  till  he  came 
out  of  the  surf  when  she  sent  a  boiling  river  of  lava 
chasing  him.  For  a  while  terror  enabled  him  to  outdis- 
tance the  stream,  but  soon  he  began  to  stumble  and  later, 
falling,  the  melted  fire  licked  off  one  of  his  hands;  at 
another  fall  it  took  a  foot  and  at  the  third  he  never  rose 
again,  whereupon  Pele,  to  torture  him  sent  the  lava  around 
him  in  the  shape  of  a  dragon  whose  head  and  tail  touched, 
and  which  ever  narrowed  the  circle,  till  at  last  it  pressed 
him  at  every  point,  sizzling  up  everything  but  his  skull, 
after  which  the  dragon  lay  cold  and  quiet  with  wide-open 
stone  eyes,  fixed  always  on  Pele  for  her  next  command. 
Joe  showed  me  the  proof,  but  all  I  could  see  was  a  smooth 
round  stone  enclosed  by  an  old  lava  coil." 

He  talked  on  till  she  lay  down;  till  he  knew 
by  her  breathing  that  she  had  reached  No- fear- 
land. 

Long  afterward,  the  moon  looked  in  to  see 
if  all  were  well.  She  lingered  as  she  looked, 
and  smiled  as  she  lingered,  while  the  lace  cur- 
tains threw  flowers  and  foliage  upon  two  chil- 
dren —  babes  in  the  woods ! 


72  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

The  very  next  morning  Anna  stood  in  slippers 
and  kimono  begging,  "  Please,  Ralph,  please, 
please! " 

It  was  all  about  two  eggs.  Two  eggs  there 
were  in  the  Dining  Room  and  there  was  nothing 
more.  She  was  insisting  that  he  eat  both  eggs 
because :  "  You'll  have  to  work  till  noon  without 
another  bite,  while  I  have  only  to  dress  and  run 
down  to  the  grocer  for  more  eggs." 

One  evening,  "  Can  you  swim,  Anna  ?  " 

No,  she  could  not. 

"Well,  you  must  learn.  We  will  go  out  to 
the  ocean  baths  to-morrow  night  for  your  first 
lesson.  I  know  you'll  like  it  and  after  you  learn 
we  will  go  regularly  two  or  three  times  a  week. 
Father  says  in  every  letter,  '  Look  well  to  your 
physical  development '  and  swimming  is  one  of 
the  best  of  exercises.  Before  I  met  you  on  that 
blessed  Sunday  in  the  kindest  of  parks  I  had 
intended  to  get  on  a  base  ball  team  —  if  I  could. 
But  after  the  ride  in  the  merry-go-round,  it  was 
— '  no  base  ball  for  mine ! ' ' 

Once  upon  another  time,  Ralph  sat  writing  a 
letter  to  his  father  and  upon  that  same  time  Anna 
stood  looking  over  his  shoulder  —  saucy  lady ! 

"  You  always  say  '  Dad  '  in  your  letters,  but  I 
never  hear  you  speak  of  him  in  that  way." 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  73 

He  paused  a  moment  to  "  think  it  out." 
"  Why,  '  Dad  '  is  sacred ;  to  be  heard  only  be- 
tween us  two.  It  was  what  he  called  himself  to 
me  when  I  was  a  baby.  When  I  grew  older,  I 
refrained  from  using  it  in  public  for  the  same 
reason  that  I  would  not  call  you  '  Dear '  before 
others." 

Another  day :     "  Can  you  play  tennis,  Anna?  " 

No,  she  could  not. 

"  It's  very  easy  to  learn,"  he  assured  her,  and 
she  found  it  so.  She  also  found  it  the  most  de- 
lightful thing  she  had  ever  done.  She  could  not 
get  enough  of  it.  Whenever  Ralph  got  back 
from  school  early,  they  took  a  hurried  lunch  and 
boarded  a  car  for  Golden  Gate  Park,  where  they 
played  as  long  as  they  could  see  the  balls.  Then, 
joyously  tired  and  ravenously  hungry  they  rode 
from  the  park  straight  down  town  to  dine  at  a 
hotel  grill. 

"  Can  you  ride  a  horse,  Anna?  " 

No,  she  could  not. 

"  You  shall  go  to  riding  school  at  once."  And 
she  did. 

A  couple  of  weeks  later  in  a  cross-saddle  suit 
of  dark  green  she  took  her  first  ride  with  Ralph. 
Often  and  again,  they  measured  off  the  ocean 
boulevard  on  horseback,  but  she  never  became 


74  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

entirely  unafraid,  so  they  never  attempted  more 
than  a  gentle  canter  together,  but  it  became 
Ralph's  practice  to  take  one  dash  alone  each  time, 
riding  like  an  Indian  straight  ahead  for  a  mile 
and  then  back,  while  she  walked  her  horse  leis- 
urely in  his  direction. 

One  morning  Ralph  had  not  been  gone  two 
hours  before  he  returned  much  excited. 

"  What  do  you  think,  Anna,  father  is  here !  " 

"Where?"  said  she,  also  excitedly. 

"  Here  in  San  Francisco,  at  the  Palace  Hotel. 
He  came  yesterday  and  went  directly  to  my  apart- 
ment at  Berkeley.  Carl  covered  my  absence  mag- 
nanimously, and  father  left  a  note  telling  me  to 
dine  with  him  to-day  at  fwe  o'clock.  I'll  be  back 
here  to-night,  though  it  will  probably  be  late." 

It  was  past  midnight  when  he  returned  and 
there  was  much  to  tell. 

"  Father  said  that  business  brought  him,  but  I 
half  believe  that  he  came  to  assure  himself  about 
me.  He  is  going  to  stay  ten  days  and  I'll  have 
to  remain  in  Berkeley  till  he  leaves,  for  he  will 
be  dropping  in  on  me  at  all  sorts  of  hours.  But 
I'll  phone  you  twice  a  day,  and  say,  Anna,  I've 
just  got  to  have  you  see  him.  All  through  din- 
ner I  was  planning  how  I  could  arrange  it  and 
I  think  I  see  a  way  to  bring  it  about.  Suppose 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  75 

you  go  to  Golden  Gate  Park  next  Sunday  and  sit 
on  the  bench  by  the  merry-go-round  and  I'll  steer 
father  that  way  sometime  between  three  and  four 
o'clock.  You'll  see  him  as  we  pass  by,  but  he'll 
never  guess  who  you  are.  Oh!  if  I  only  dared 
lead  you  up  to  him  and  say,  '  Let  me  marry  her.' 
Not  that  marriage  is  of  any  consequence,  but  the 
world  demands  it.  Undoubtedly  he  would  see, 
in  such  a  step,  the  downfall  of  all  his  hopes  for 
me,  and  the  end  of  my  education.  But  I  know 
how  wrong  such  a  conclusion  would  be.  During 
my  first  month  at  Berkeley  I  was  homesick  and 
restless  and  tempted  more  than  once  to  take  pas- 
sage for  Hawaii.  Then  I  met  you.  My  con- 
science pricks  me  when  I  remember  how  my 
homesickness  ceased;  as  though  there  were  no 
home  to  long  for;  how  contentment  quieted  the 
heart  that  had  been  calling  '  Father,  Father.'  As 
soon  as  I  came  here  to  live  with  you,  in  our  dear 
Middle  Room,  I  began  to  study  with  my  whole 
mind  upon  my  work,  for  the  great  Unsatisfac- 
tion  no  longer  distracted  my  thoughts.  I  know ; 
I  know ;  but  how  can  I  make  him  understand  ?  " 

Anna  spent  her  days  of  desolation  picturing 
Ralph's  father. 

Of  course  he  would  have  Ralph's  glorious  dark 
eyes  —  only  there  would  be  wrinkles  around 


76  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

them.  Like  Ralph,  he  would  be  slender  and  of 
medium  height  —  but  stooped.  He  would  have 
the  same  black,  waving  hair  —  streaked  with 
gray.  The  dusky  red  in  Ralph's  cheeks  would  be 
faded  out  of  the  father's. 

In  Ralph's  quarters  in  Berkeley  Albert  Young 
sat  facing  the  light  of  his  life.  "  Well,  Laddie, 
you've  grown  two  inches  and  gained  a  score  of 
pounds.  If  I  had  not  interviewed  your  teachers 
and  been  made  proud,  I  should  have  thought  you 
had  put  in  all  your  time  developing  the  physical," 
and  his  glad  eyes  devoured  the  form  before  him, 
and  yet  remained  as  hungry  as  when  the  feast 
began. 

Sunday  came  to  Golden  Gate  Park.  So  did 
Anna.  She  reached  the  bench  by  the  merry-go- 
round  at  two  o'clock,  so  fearful  was  she  of  being 
too  late  to  see  the  wonderful  father.  She  waited 
long.  The  bench  grew  hard  as  wood  —  which  it 
was.  Then  it  grew  hard  as  stone,  which  it  was 
not.  It  was  three  o'clock  and  still  they  had  not 
appeared.  It  was  half  past  three  and  yet  no 
sight  of  them.  When  it  was  nearly  four  o'clock 
an  old  gentleman  sat  down  on  the  bench  and 
talked  to  her  a  little,  so  for  a  few  minutes  she 
forgot  the  unyielding  disposition  of  the  bench. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  77 

When  at  last  she  did  see  Ralph  approaching,  she 
was  dum founded.  The  man  walking  by  his  side 
weighed  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  He  was 
a  head  taller  than  Ralph.  He  had  blue  eyes  and 
no  wrinkles  about  them.  He  had  yellow  hair  — 
she  couldn't  see  any  gray.  His  cheeks  were  red. 
He  did  not  stoop. 

Just  as  they  passed  Anna,  Ralph  dropped  one 
step  behind  to  give  her  a  smile.  Instantly  Albert 
Young  noticed  the  movement  and  turned  his  head 
for  the  cause.  He  discovered  it. 

"  Ah,  you  rascal,  flirting  with  every  pretty  girl 
you  see,"  he  laughed,  slapping  Ralph's  shoulder. 
"  But  she  belongs  to  your  class ;  I  should  not  like 
to  have  you  take  up  with  nurse  girls.  Fine  look- 
ing old  gentleman,  her  father." 

Albert  Young  went  home,  his  pulses  singing 
songs. 

"  Joe  told  father  to  bring  me  home.  He  said 
the  United  States  was  a  very  bad  country,"  Ralph 
was  saying  to  Anna  an  hour  after  the  American- 
Hawaiian  steamer  had  carried  Albert  Young 
through  the  Golden  Gate. 

"  Who  is  Joe?  " 

"  Joe,"  repeated  Ralph,  "  oh,  Joe  is  my  nurse." 

Anna  laughed  amusedly.  "  Do  men  have 
nurses  in  your  country?" 


78  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Then  Ralph  laughed.  "  That  did  sound  funny, 
didn't  it?  I  guess  an  explanation  is  in  order. 
When  I  said  '  Good  morning '  to  life,  my  mother 
bid  it  '  Good-bye.'  Father  sent  to  the  United 
States  for  a  nurse  and  kept  her  till  I  was  five 
years  old.  Then  he  thought  it  better  for  me  to 
be  cared  for  by  Joe.  He  wanted  to  guard  against 
my  being  made  a  molly  coddle.  My  sister  was 
twelve  years  old  and  she,  too,  looked  after  me. 
Joe  put  me  on  horseback  at  once,  first  in  his  arms, 
but  very  soon  alone.  He  taught  me  to  swim  al- 
most at  once.  Kalani  taught  me  surf-board  rid- 
ing and  to  climb  a  palm  tree." 

"Can't  any  boy  climb  a  tree?"  asked  Anna, 
"  and  what  is  surf-board  riding?  " 

Ralph  laughed  again.  "  I  guess  any  boy  could 
climb  a  palm  tree  that  can  climb  an  eighty-foot 
flag  pole.  Surf-board  riding  is  standing  on  a 
board  on  top  of  a  breaker  and  riding  in  to'* shore. 
It  is  not  as  easy  as  it  sounds,  and  unless  one  is 
born  on  the  water,  so  to  speak,  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  learn  it.  Kalani  taught  me  to  swing, 
too  —  not  your  kind,  just  one  rope  and  a  cross 
stick.  The  first  time  I  rode  off  on  my  pony  with- 
out Joe's  help  he  crawled  away  and.  cried,  and  so 
he  did  at  each  successive  independence  on  my 
part.  He  looked  upon  my  growing  self-reliance 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  79 

as  base  ingratitude,  but  it  never  weakened  his 
love." 

The  disturbing  but  undisturbed  father  had  been 
gone  many  days  and  life  was  just  as  it  should  be 
once  more.  Anna  sat  reading  "  Snowbound." 
She  had  read  it  in  school,  and  she  had  a  way  of 
liking  better  to  re-read  books  she  had  enjoyed 
than  to  peep  between  strange  covers. 

"  I  wonder  what  snow  is  really  like?  "  she  said 
aloud. 

Ralph  looked  up  from  his  book.  "  Of  course 
I  don't  know  any  more  about  it  than  you  do,  but 
a  Minnesotan  at  the  University  told  me  that  it  is 
like  standing  in  ice  cream;  so  it  must  be  chilly. 
Miles  distant  on  the  tops  of  Mauna  Loa  and 
Mauna  Kea  I  have  seen  it  all  my  life,  but  it  was 
a  picture,  not  a  temperature." 

One  day  D.  Porwancher  was  taken  ill;  so  ill 
that  he  had  to  close  his  shop  for  three  days.  Mrs. 
Lacey  put  cold-water  compresses  on  his  throat 
and  lungs,  gave  him  hot  drinks  and  sweated  him ; 
while  Anna  made  him  soups  and  went  to  the  mar- 
ket for  bones  for  Girt.  When  D.  Porwancher 
was  well  again  he  gave  Mrs.  Lacey  a  gold  pin 
and  Anna  a  bracelet  from1  his  stock. 

One  afternoon  as  Ralph  entered  the  Middle 
Room,  Anna  rushed  at  him  and  put  her  handker- 


So  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

chief  over  his  nose.  "  Guess  what  I've  rnacK-  for 
dinner." 

Faintly  from  under  the  handkerchief,  "  If  I  arn 
to  be  smothered,  I  won't  need  any  dinner." 

"  But  you'll  smell  it,  if  I  don't  cover  your 
nose,"  she  complained.  However,  she  removed 
the  handkerchief,  but  even  then  he  could  not  guess 
what  it  was. 

"It's  scalloped  oysters!"  she  announced,  and 
led  him  over  to  the  tiny  oven  on  the  little,  gas 
plate,  where  she  opened  tlr<?  door  a  cradc  and  al- 
lowed him  to  peep  in. 

"  Stoop  down,"  she  commanded.  "  Doesn't  it 
smell  delicious?  " 

"  It  smells  like  good  eating  antf  then  some," 
complimented  Ralph. 

When  they  sat  devouring  the  oyster  pie  Ralph 
told  her  there  was  to  be  a  great  game  of  base  ball 
between  Berkeley  and  Stanford. 

"  I'll  get  some  good  seats  and  we'll  go,  it  will 
be  great !  " 

It  was  great.  Ralph  pointed  out  the  different 
teams  to  her :  "  Those  with  a  big  '  C  '  on  their 
breasts  are  our  fellows  and  the  ones  with  '  S  '  are 
Stanford's."  He  also  explained  the  main  points 
of  the  game,  and  Anna  experienced  a  bitter  dis- 
appointment every  time  a  "  C "  failed  to  get 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  81 

"  clear  around  the  square "  at  one  run.  All 
around  her  buzzed  a  confusing  foreign  tongue  — 
"  a  pop  fly,"  "  starting  for  the  pill,"  "  loaded  the 
pillows,"  "  slam  to  short,"  "  fumbled  his  roller," 
"  bat  pounder,"  "  main  squeeze,"  "  umph  failed 
to  call,"  "  walloped  out  of  the  box,"  and  yet  more. 
From  a  prof  undo  basso  behind,  "  What's  he 
doing?  Embroidering  hisself  a  shadow-work 
shirt  waist  ?  " 

"  What  you  talking  about  ?  "  interrupted  a  fal- 
setto tenor. 

"  What  am  I  talking  about  ?  Why,  you  big 
hick,  can't  you  see  that  this  is  the  made-to-order 
place  for  'em  to  pull  the  squeeze  play  ?  Only  one 
hand  gone,  man  on  first,  and  a  man  on  third,  and 
a  zoop  at  the  bat  that  can  lay  one  down,  like  a 
Jap  auctioneer  putting  a  fish  platter  in  a  plush 
case." 

On  her  left  Tragedy  moaned :  "  Well,  it's  the 
bush  league  stuff  they  pull  in  this  yard,  believe 
me,"  which  was  seconded  by  his  Man  Friday  in 
the  words :  "  You'd  nachully  think,  now, 
wouldn't  you,  that  they'd  get  away  from  the  old 
army  game  in  a  town  like  this.  I  wonder  if  they 
think  that  people  that  came  over  with  the  price 
at  the  gate,  like  to  dig  up  with  their  cush  to  see 
this  old  barnyard  stuff?" 


82  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"  Look  at  that  big  prune ! "  commanded  the 
basso ;  "  only  last  week  a  pitcher  hauled  him  a 
soak  on  the  bean  for  doing  just  that  stuff.  Oh, 
well,  he  won't  miss  a  broken  bone  or  two  in  his 
conk ;  none  of  them  would,  the  bunch  o'  Swedes !  " 

Were  they  Swedes?  Why,  some  of  them  were 
as  dark  as  Indians.  She  would  ask  Ralph  when 
they  got  home,  decided  Anna. 

Vacation  approached ;  that  period  which  Ralph, 
in  September,  had  felt  certain  would  never  arrive 
and  which  now,  he  wished  would  never  come. 
His  ideas  of  honor  were  rather  high  —  Hermann 
Burckhardt  had  left  his  mark  —  but  he  had  a  se- 
cret conviction  that  could  he  meet  Father  Time 
he  would  do  his  utmost  to  bribe  that  official  to 
turn  back  his  clock. 

Vacation !  and  Ralph  must  spend  it  at  home ! 

The  Land  of  the  Big  Moon!  Bah!  A  San 
Francisco  gas  jet  was  transcendently  greater  — 
it  could  show  him  Anna.  Rainbow  Land ! 
Didn't  San  Francisco  fog  make  a  tender  frame 
for  the  blue  of  Anna's  eyes  and  the  crimson  in  her 
cheeks?  Was  there  a  soul  in  any  rainbow? 

Vacation  coming!  Ralph  must  spend  it  with 
his  father.  And  such  a  father !  The  heart  that 
forever  said  "  yes  "  and  the  wisdom  to  —  some- 
times —  say,  "  no."  Ralph  tried  to  think  it  out. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  83 

He  did  not  want  to  go  and  that  ought  to  have 
been  shame  to  him  —  and  yet  he  knew  it  was 
not.  The  time  drew  pitilessly  nearer  and  nearer. 
Reluctantly  they  thought  of  it,  reluctantly  they 
spoke  of  it,  and,  as  an  evening  alone  did  not  tend 
toward  forget  fulness,  they  filled  each  one  with 
theatre,  motoring,  or  a  long-drawn-out  dinner  at 
a  down-town  cafe. 

But  there  were  some  words  which  must  be 
spoken. 

"  I've  borrowed  two  hundred  dollars  from  Carl 
for  you  and  I  will  cable  some  more  in  D.  Por- 
wancher's  name.  Go  out  a  great  deal,  dear,  while 
I  am  away  so  that  you  will  keep  happy  and  well, 
but  take  Mrs.  Lacey  or  D.  Porwancher  with  you 
evenings  for  protection.  Isn't  it  strange  that  I 
should  prefer  remaining  here  with  you,  whom  I 
have  known  only  a  few  months,  to  going  to  my 
father,  who  was  my  all  in  all  for  sixteen  years. 
There  would  be  an  intolerable  ache  in  his  heart 
if  he  knew  it.  Have  you  been  entirely  happy  in 
this  room,  Anna  ?  " 

"I?  I  didn't  know  before  how  happiness  felt. 
My  mother  was  always  too  sick  to  take  care  of  us 
or  play  with  us  or  even  to  sing  us  lullabies. 
Sometimes  she  was  too  sick  to  speak  to  us.  Then 
she  died.  Almost  as  soon  as  she  was  buried,  my 


84  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

father  died,  and  then  —  John  was  put  in  an  or- 
phanage and  I  went  to  live  with  Mrs.  Brown, 
where  I  was  always  afraid.  One  day  I  ran  away 
and  went  to  my  only  friend,  Miss  Duncan;  but 
she  had  to  leave  the  city,  so  she  took  me  to  the 
Merrill's,  where  you  found  me.  No  one,  except 
Miss  Duncan,  was  ever  good  to  me  before  I  knew 
you.  You're  just  like  her,  Ralph.  I  wish  we 
three  could  live  together  all  our  lives." 

"  Well,  there  are  two  of  us  who  are  going  to 
do  that.  For  your  sake  I  should  be  willing  to 
include  your  friend,  but  personally,  I  am  quite 
satisfied  as  the  number  now  stands,"  and  he  in- 
sisted that  Anna  sit  in  the  big  arm-chair  — 
though  it  was  already  filled. 

"  I  feel  here  just  the  way  I  did  in  Miss  Dun- 
can's house  —  so  happy  all  day  and  so  safe  all 
night.  I  never  had  any  pretty  clothes  till  you 
bought  them  for  me  and  I  never  went  anywhere 
for  a  good  time  till  you  took  me.  And  Oh, 
Ralph,  I  never  dreamed  of  ever  having  such  a 
beautiful  room  as  this  for  my  own." 

"  There  is  a  far  lovelier  home  than  this  waiting 
for  you  out  in  the  blue  Pacific  —  when  I'm 
through  at  the  '  U.'  Three  years  won't  be  long." 

"  This  won't  be  bright  or  pretty  at  all  when 
you  are  gone.  Don't  go  away,  Ralph."  Three 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  85 

or  four  warm  tears,  not  his  own,  trickled  down 
inside  his  collar.  He  brushed  some  from  his  own 
eyes  as  he  tried  to  kiss  away  hers. 

Sailing  day  found  Ralph  on  a  steamer  and 
Anna,  Mrs.  Lacey,  D.  Porwancher  and  Girt  on 
the  wharf.  Anna  could  not  see  Ralph  for  tears, 
and  when  promptly  at  noon,  the  boat  backed  out 
of  her  slip,  the  girl  dropped  her  head  on  Mrs. 
Lacey's  shoulder  and  cried  without  restraint. 

"  See,  darlin',  he's  wavin'  good-bye  to  you," 
said  Mrs.  Lacey,  but  Anna's  only  reply  was  to 
cry  on. 

Almost  before  Anna  had  dried  her  tears,  a  mes- 
sage by  wireless  came : 

"  S.  S.  SKYLINE. 

"  Two  days  out.  Weather  fine,  but  oh,  so  homesick  for 
dear  Middle  Room.  Aloha,  Aloha  !  " 

When  this  had  slept  next  her  heart  by  day  and 
under  her  pillow  by  night,  for  two  sunrises,  its 
mate  came  fluttering  in : 

"  S.  S.  SKYLINE. 
"  Will  land  in  three  days.     Aloha,  dear  Middle  Room." 

A  third  carrier  dove  : 

"  HONOLULU. 

"  Father  is  so  glad,  but  I  pine  for  the  Middle  Room  and 
one  it  contains,  Aloha,  Aloha !  " 


86  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

A  letter : 

"  AT  HOME,  HILO  BAY. 

"Dear  Hilo  hills  and  fruits  and  flowers,  but  dearer  still 
the  dear  Middle  Room  with  the  one  God-given  to  me ;  for  me, 
for  me  alone.  How  almighty  He  makes  the  bond  between 
the  two  He  creates  for  each  other.  Young  as  I  am,  I  already 
know,  without  teaching,  that  it  is  the  most  powerful  force 
in  the  world.  I  met  a  hundred  beautiful  girls  in  Hono- 
lulu, but  one  face  only  looked  out  from  each,  and  the  lips 
which  spoke  to  me  were  the  lips  I  had  kissed  two  thousand 
miles  away.  I  fear  I  mope,  for  father  has  remarked  that 
I  need  rest  —  which  I  do  not.  I  need  a  change  of  climate 
—  San  Francisco  fog.  But  I  am  going  to  brace  up  for  his 
sake  and  make  him  as  happy  as  I  can,  with  a  heart  that 
has  committed  treason  to  him.  Oh,  I  do  love  him !  As 
much  as  ever?  When  I  started  for  the  United  States 
there  was  not  one  thing  he  could  have  asked  of  me  to 
which  I  would  not  have  replied,  '  Yes,  father,  I  will,  for 
I  am  sure  you  know  best.'  Now,  there  is  one  thing,  which, 
should  he  request  it,  I  would  refuse." 

The  earth  continued  to  rotate  and  each  turning 
made  a  day  and  even  three  months  is  only  ninety 
days,  so  if  the  world  would  only  continue  to  spin 
there  would  have  to  come  an  end  to  those  three 
times  thirty  days ;  and  there  did.  Then  there  had 
to  be  three  people  and  a  dog  at  the  dock;  and 
there  were.  The  tears  should  all  have  been 
turned  to  smiles  at  this  time;  and  they  were. 
Upon  landing,  Ralph  should  have  run  down  the 
gang  plank  and  kissed  all  four  —  and  he  did ! 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  87 

And  that  is  the  way  in  which  every  sorrowful 
parting  should  conclude. 

"  You've  grown  like  everything,  Anna,"  said 
Ralph,  when  they  were  once  more  in  the  beloved 
Middle  Room.  Thereupon,  they  both  must  needs 
measure  against  the  wall.  Ralph  marking  for 
Anna  and  she  doing  the  same  for  him.  They 
measured  to  the  same  mark.  Next,  they  had  to 
go  to  the  grocery  and  be  weighed,  and  Anna  had 
the  best  of  the  weight. 

"  You're  not  going  to  make  any  fairy,  Anna ; 
you'll  be  a  Venus  de  Milo,"  declared  Ralph. 

About  three  weeks  after  Ralph's  return  Anna 
gave  a  birthday  party,  to  which  she  invited  Ralph, 
Mrs.  Lacey,  and  D.  Porwancher.  It  was  Anna's 
birthday  and  her  cake  required  six  more  candles 
than  had  Girt's.  D.  Porwancher  gave  her  a  chain 
and  locket ;  the  locket,  he  said,  was  from  Girt, 
who,  though  uninvited,  wished  to  show  his  grati- 
tude for  the  bones  she  had  brought  him  when  D. 
Porwancher  was  ill.  Mrs.  Lacey  presented  her 
with  two  yards  of  pale  blue  ribbon.  Ralph's  gift 
was  the  talk  of  the  evening.  It  was  a  bracelet 
made  of  three  hundred  tiny  yellow  feathers,  over- 
lapped, like  shingles  on  a  roof. 

"  I  had  it  made  for  Anna  from  a  feather  lei 
of  my  great-grandmother,"  explained  Ralph. 


88  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"  A  hundred  and  fifty  little  birds  contributed  to 
this  bracelet,"  he  continued.  "  Each  bird  has  a 
small  yellow  feather  under  each  wing,  of  which  it 
is  robbed.  The  birds  are  not  killed,  but  caught 
and  plucked  of  those  two  feathers  and  then  set 
free." 

•  D.  Porwancher  had  brought  wine  and  all  drank 
"  A  thousand  years  "  to  Anna.  She  tasted  her 
glass,  in  recognition,  but  still  the  wine  was  bitter. 

"  Tell  us  a  Hawaiian  story,"  said  D.  Por- 
wancher. 

Ralph  consented. 

"  The  morning  after  Hawaii  rose  out  of  the  water  a 
monstrous  bird  swam  to  its  shore  and  from  under  its 
wings  crept  brown  chiefs  with  their  wives  and  children. 

"The  sea  gave  them  their  all ;  food,  recreation  and  clean-" 
liness.  Daily  the  daughters  of  the  chiefs  came  to  its  edge 
to  bathe  and  play.  One  day  the  maiden  liwi  heard  a 
whisper  and  looking  up,  all  dripping  and  shining,  beheld 
a  handsome  young  chief  gazing  admiringly  at  her  from 
behind  a  tall  rock. 

" '  Send  the  other  maidens  away,  and  I  will  show  you 
something  beautiful,'  he  whispered,  and  as  she  hesitated, 
he  continued,  '  I  will  lead  you  to  pearls  enough  to  net  into 
a  veil  that  will  cover  you  from  head  to  foot.' 

"  At  that  she  directed  the  others  to  proceed  farther  along 
the  shore  to  find  a  more  excellent  beach.  When  they  were 
alone  he  stepped  forth  extending  his  hand  which  she  took. 
He  led  her  to  the  water's  edge  and  as  their  feet  entered 
the  surf,  the  hand  she  clasped  became  a  flipper  and  the 
young  chief  stood  not  upon  two  feet,  but  upon  a  furcated 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  89 

tail,  while  his  stature  grew  to  forty  feet.  At  the  moment 
she  tried  to  withdraw  her  hand  he  raised  her  aloft  and 
dived  twenty  thousand  fathoms  down  into  the  water. 

''  Long  and  tearful  was  the  search  for  liwi  but  she  was 
never  seen  again. 

"  In  time  another  maiden  disappeared,  and  then  another. 
It  came  finally  to  be  noticed  that  ten  days  always  inter- 
vened between  the  disappearances.  The  reason  was  this : 
the  handsome  chief  who  abducted  liwi  was  the  shark  king, 
and  he  seized  the  maidens  not  for  his  food — that  con- 
sisted of  the  smaller  fish  —  but  as  a  condiment;  maidens 
being  an  acquired  taste.  He  ate  but  one  meal  a  day  and 
as  each  upper  limb  of  a  maiden  sufficed  for  a  meal,  a 
lower  limb  for  two  meals,  and  the  trunk  for  four,  one 
maiden  provided  him  with  sauce  for  ten  days." 

"  The  Hawaiians  knew  how  to  tell  stories," 
commented  D.  Porwancher. 

"  Oo-o,"  shivered  Anna,  "  I  don't  think  their 
stories  are  nice." 

"  Tell  us  a  ra,le  love  story,"  begged  Mrs.  Lacey. 

"  I'll  give  you  one  Hermann  picked  up  some- 
where." 

"  Akaaka,  whose  name  means  laughter,  was  a  maiden 
sixteen  years  of  age  and  so  beautiful  that  her  father  al- 
ways left  her  locked  in  his  hut  whenever  he  was  called  to 
battle  or  to  fish.  It  was  his  intention  to  sell  her  to  some 
chief  of  great  wealth.  On  one  of  his  expeditions,  a  tor- 
rential storm  delayed  him  and  Akaaka  was  without  food 
for  two  days.  She  wept  and  moaned  hour  after  hour. 
Toward  dark  of  the  second  day,  a  young  hunter  knocked 
for  cover  from  the  deluge.  Akaaka  called  to  him  that 


90  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

the  door  was  fastened  from  the  outside.  He  quickly 
effected  an  entrance  and  stood  with  kindling  eyes  gazing 
at  her  smooth  brown  plumpness,  her  full  red  lips,  her 
gentle  dark  eyes,  the  curling  lashes  glittering  with  tears, 
and  the  long  soft  hair  like  a  feather  mantle  about  her. 
When  Akaaka  had  told  him  the  story  of  her  imprisonment 
he  quickly  opened  his  uki  bag  and  took  out  sugar  cane  and 
taro.  While  she  ate  he  looked  beseechingly  at  her  and 
when  her  hunger  was  appeased,  exclaimed,  '  Wilt  thou  go 
with  me  ?  ' 

" '  I  will  go  with'  thee,  my  lord,'  she  answered,  looking 
back  into  his  eyes,  '  I  will  mix  the  poi  and  bring  the  cala- 
bash of  awa  to  thee  all  the  days  of  my  life,  and  if  Oi-e, 
the  Death,  calleth  thee,  I  will  still  sleep  by  thy  side.' 

"  '  Good  ! '  said  the  love-stricken  hunter,  '  but  to-night 
thy  father's  kapa  shall  cover  us  and  close  held  in  each 
other's  arms  we  will  forget  the  kona.  With  the  rising  sun 
we  will  up  and  away  before  thy  father  returns.' 

"  The  morning  broke  fair.  Akaaka  awoke  with  brood- 
ing love  in  her  eyes  and  clasping  her  hunter's  hand  they 
both  passed  from  beneath  the  ahos  of  her  father.  At  the 
very  moment  their  feet  touched  the  goat  path  her  father 
came  in  sight.  With  intensest  anger  he  gazed  at  the 
youth ;  with  deadly  hatred  he  noted  the  new-born  language 
of  Akaaka's  eyes. 

"'Where  goest  thou?'  he  demanded  of  her. 

" '  With  the  lord  of  my  love,'  she  replied,  with  a  strange 
courage. 

"  '  Back,  under  my  thatch ! '  he  commanded. 

" '  Not  so,  respected  father  of  my  love,'  interposed  the 
youthful  hunter,  'even  as  her  mother  left  her  aged  father 
to  twine  her  young  arms  about  thy  neck,  so  would  Akaaka 
wind  hers  around  me,  sheltered  by  my  kapa.' 

"  The  old  man  pondered  warily  a  moment.  Should  he 
engage  in  combat  with  the  boy,  he,  the  old,  would  prob- 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  91 

ably  be  fatally  wounded.  He  would  temporize;  '  I  am  an 
old  man,  my  son,  and  the  old  forget.  All  thou  sayest  is 
true,  but  I  had  forgotten.  Take  my  daughter,  but  take 
her  not  so  abruptly ;  give  an  old  father  time  to  school  his 
heart  to  the  age-eld  recurring  bitterness  of  fathers.  Leave 
Akaaka  with  me  for  the  fulling  of  but  one  moon  and  I 
shall  have  disciplined  myself  to  lift  her  with  mine  own 
arms  into  thine.' 

•'  Sorrowfully,  the  young  people  consented,  and  the 
handsome  hunter  returned  alone  to  his  hut. 

"  Moodily,  day  after  day,  sat  the  old  man  in  his  door- 
way. The  great  and  wealthy  chief  of  whom  he  had 
dreamed  as  providing  him  with  hogs  and  goats  and  taro  to 
the  end  of  his  life  in  exchange  for  his  lovely  daughter 
would  brook  no  woman  already  wived.  But  revenge 
soothes  and  cruelty  relishes.  On  the  last  day  before  the 
fulling  of  the  moon,  he  arose,  staff  in  hand  telling  Akaaka 
to  follow  him.  Up  the  steeps  of  Kilauea  he  led  her,  lift- 
ing her  by  her  hair  when  she  fell ;  dragging  her  where  she 
could  not  climb. 

"  To  all  the  males  of  his  line,  Pele  owed  a  service  once 
a  decade,  in  return  for  a  battalion  of  warriors  furnished 
her  by  a  far-removed  ancestor  of  his  during  her  long  war- 
fare against  Kaiakahinalii  who  had  sought  to  drown  her. 

"  When  he  had  reached  the  height  desired,  the  old  man 
opened  his  uki  bag  and  took  from  it  a  skin  filled  with  awa 
which  he  emptied  on  the  ground ;  following  that  he  lighted 
some  twigs,  and  kneeling  before  the  blaze  called  three 
times  upon  Pele.  At  the  third  call  she  arose  standing  one 
thousand  feet  tall. 

" '  O  Pele,'  the  old  man  prayed,  '  dost  thou  call  to  mind 
thy  promise  to  the  descendants  of  him  who  aided  thee  in 
thy  death  grapple  with  Kaiakahinalii  ? ' 

"  Three  times  Pele  sprang  into  the  air.  This  was  her 
answer,  '  Yes.' 


92  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

" '  Before  thee,  O  Pele,'  continued  fhe  old  man,  '  lies  my 
deceiving,  disobedient,  unchaste  daughter.  Cause,  O  Pele, 
the  land  to  break  away  on  every  side  from  the  spot  upon 
which  she  rests,  isolating  her,  by  a  chasm  five  thousand 
fathoms  deep,  from  every  living  creature.' 

"  Instantly  thunder  rumbled  and  Akaaka  and  her  father 
were  rolled  about  like  marbles  while  a  crack  circled  around 
the  maiden  ever  widening  and  deepening  till  she  sat  alone 
high  in  space  with  an  unbridgeable  gulf  on  every  side. 
Then  the  old  man  descended  to  his  hut  to  be  met  at  his 
door  by  the  young  husband.  Tauntingly,  he  described 
Akaaka's  predicament.  The  maddened  youth  struck  the 
unnatural  father  to  the  ground,  then  filling  his  uki  bag 
with  food  and  drink,  dashed  to  the  rescue  of  his  love. 
She  could  see  him  flying  toward  her,  but  the  grave  all 
around  stopped  him  half  a  league  away.  He  tried  to  talk 
to  her,  but  she  could  only  make  out  that  his  mouth  moved, 
his  voice  could  not  be  heard.  He  attempted  to  throw 
cocoanuts  across  to  her,  but  they  fell  into  the  abyss  before 
they  had  covered  a  fourth  of  the  distance.  When  dark- 
ness fell,  he  desisted  till  dawn ;  then  another  day  of  futile 
effort  followed  by  another  night.  The  third  day  he  saw 
her  lie  down.  He  knew.  She  was  starving  and  thirsting 
to  death.  Frantically  he  tried  to  clamber  down  his  side 
of  the  grave.  At  his  first  move  he  lost  his  hold  and  rolled 
to  the  bottom.  Bleeding,  he  rose  and  tried  to  traverse  the 
glass-like  cutting  rocks  at  the  base.  He  stepped,  he  stum- 
bled, he  fell.  He  rose  to  step  and  stumble  and  fall  again 
and  then  he  rose  no  more. 

"  Akaaka  had  said  truly,  '  If  death  calleth  thee,  I  will 
still  sleep  by  thy  side.' " 

"  That  is  not  a  nice  story  either,"  adjudged 
the  dictator',  Anna.  "  If  I  wrote  a  story  I'd  make 
it  end  happy." 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  93 

The  weather  was  perfect  for  tennis.  Their  joy 
•was  without  alloy;  the  lost  was  found;  the  Be- 
loved, who  had  gone  afar,  was  returned.  The 
swimming  tanks  claimed  them  often  and  their 
horseback  riding  was  resumed. 

One  Sunday  all  took  their  lunch  and  went  out 
to  the  beach  —  all  but  Girt.  They  stripped  off 
shoes  and  stockings  and  paddled  in  the  surf  —  all 
but  D.  Porwancher.  Daringly  they  followed  far 
out  after  the  receding  waves.  Cravenly  they  ran 
for  shore  when  the  waters  turned  on  them.  Long 
after  Anna  and  Ralph  had  decided  to  rest,  Mrs. 
Lacey  continued  the  game.  Few  had  been  such 
days  in  her  life.  They  ate  their  lunch;  they  lay 
full  length  in  the  warm  sand;  they  watched  the 
seals  diving  off  the  rocks,  seals  climbing  up  the 
cliffs,  seals  wailing  croupily,  seals  scratching  their 
chins  with  their  hind  flippers,  seals  yawning  like 
sleepy  children,  enormous  males  and  little  baby 
seals  all  peaceably  taking  a  sun  bath  together. 
They  lingered  to  see  the  sun  cuddle  down  in  the 
arms  of  China,  and  they  had  the  rare  luck  to  see 
what  they  might  have  come  a  hundred  times  to 
see  —  and  failed  to  see;  a  ragged  bar  of  vapor 
had  parted,  cutting  off  the  upper  and  lower  rims 
of  the  sun,  and  lo !  licking  flames  in  the  waters, 
not  beyond  them. 


94  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Hungry  and  happy,  they  said  "  Good  night  " 
to  wave  and  sand  and  Ralph  led  the  party  to  a 
down-town  restaurant,  where  they  ate  a  delicious 
dinner  to  the  music  of  a  full  orchestra. 

In  the  morning  Ralph  was  up  and  off  for  school 
betimes,  while  Anna  swept  and  "  straightened  up 
the  house." 

Another  Sunday  Ralph  and  Anna  went  over  to 
the  Presidio.  They  entered  through  the  Avenue 
entrance  past  the  little  gate  guard  house,  on  by 
the  officers'  homes,  the  hospital,  and  the  rows  and 
rows  of  white  tents.  They  strolled  under  shady 
trees,  over  rustic  bridges,  by  tangles  of  vine  and 
flower  clear  to  the  water's  edge,  where,  far  down 
the  reservation,  the  great  Fort  came  into  view, 
guarding  Golden  Gate.  Anna,  growing  tired,  sat 
down  on  a  bench,  while  Ralph  wandered  farther ; 
a  young  soldier  came  over  and  sat  beside  her,  of- 
fering some  bits  of  information  on  Presidio  life. 
Whenever  he  spoke  he  smiled,  but  between  times 
his  face  settled,  dull  and  tired.  Anna  noting  the 
shadow,  decided  within  herself  that  he  felt  as  she 
did  at  the  Merrill's,  when  she  had  Sundays  from 
two  to  five  and  car  fare. 

One  evening  Ralph  said,  "  Anna,  what  do  you 
say  to  shooting  the  chutes  to-night?  " 

"  Let's,"  said  Anna. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  95 

"  Suppose  we  invite  Mrs.  Lacey  and  D.  Por- 
wancher  to  go  with  us  ?  " 

"  Say  we  do,"  assented  she.     And  so  it  was. 

At  first  all  four  shot  down  the  incline  together, 
Mrs.  Lacey  shrieking  each  time  they  struck  the 
water.  After  a  while  Anna  and  D.  Porwancher 
tired  of  it  and  went  below  to  stand  at  the  railing 
and  watch  Ralph  and  Mrs.  Lacey  fly  into  the 
water.  Mrs.  Lacey  could  not  get  enough  of  it, 
though  her  shrieks  continued.  Her  play  time  had 
come  at  the  wrong  end  of  her  years,  but  she  gave 
it  royal  greeting  when  it  did  pass  by. 

"  B-r-r,"  rang  the  telephone  one  afternoon; 
Anna  flew  to  answer  it. 

"  Hello,"  she  called. 

"Is  that  you,  Anna?"  came  back  Ralph's 
voice. 

"  Yes,  Ralph,"  she  answered. 

"  How  would  you  like  to  go  up  Mt.  Tamalpais? 
I've  never  been  there.  Have  you  ?  " 

No,  she  never  had,  and  she  would  like  it. 

"  Meet  me  at  the  Ferry  for  the  2 130  boat 
then,"  he  closed. 

Anna  hurried  into  her  street  clothes  and  ran 
for  a  car.  Ralph  was  awaiting  her  at  the  Ferry. 
The  boat  chug-chugged  them  across  the  Bay. 
They  stood  at  the  rail  and  watched  the  sea  gulls 


96  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

follow,  follow,  follow,  never  tiring,  never  alight- 
ing. At  Sausalito  they  took  the  electric  car  for 
Mill  Valley;  from  there  they  climbed  the  moun- 
tain in  a  bobtailed  gasoline  rail  car.  They  read 
all  the  little  sign  boards  along  the  track. 

"  We  are  now  rising  forty-five  feet  to  the  min- 
ute," said  one. 

"  This  is  a  curve  of  ninety  degrees,"  another. 

They  rounded  S9mething  like  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  other  curves  that  were  ninety  degrees 
minus  —  oh,  very  little  minus. 

"  A  snake  could  get  points  on  twisting,  from 
this  road,"  remarked  Ralph. 

For  three  thousand  feet  they  zig-zagged  up- 
ward. When  they  were  ready  to  return,  the  car 
brought  them  all  the  way  down  by  gravitation. 

Again  Christmas  came  bustling  along.  Clerks 
were  worked  to  death ;  street-car  conductors 
thought  on  hari-kari.  Beggars  with  one  leg 
stood  on  the  corners ;  beggars  with  no  legs  sat  on 
the  pavement ;  beggars  with  sightless  eyeballs  ex- 
tended a  pair  of  shoe  strings;  beggars  without 
eyeballs  held  forth  a  couple  of  lead  pencils. 

Again  Anna  and  Ralph  questioned  each  other 
as  to  gifts  desired.  Once  again  they  consulted 
together  over  presents  for  John,  Mrs.  Lacey  and 
D.  Porwancher. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  97 

Once  again  ten  thousand  tin  horns  bellowed 
the  New  Year  in  and  carloads  of  confetti  made 
soft  walking  on  Market  Street.  January  passed 
and  the  February  sun  grew  bright.  Thousands 
of  tourists  lay  in  the  warm  beach  sands.  Some 
coughed  as  they  lay.  Children  of  the  wealthy, 
nurse-guarded,  flitted  about  in  blue  and  red  and 
yellow,  like  flower  petals  in  a  breeze.  Here,  too, 
came  Anna  and  Ralph.  Sometimes  they  pre- 
ferred to  canter  by  the  crowd  on  their  horses. 
Anna  sat  her  horse  well,  and, never  looked  lovelier 
than  in  her  pretty  cross-saddle  habit.  The  beach 
loungers  watched  her  far. 

In  March,  tennis  was  resumed.  When  April 
dropped  her  tears,  Anna  let  fall  some,  too,  for 
their  ghost,  who  would  not  down  was  abroad; 
the  skeleton  in  their  closet  was  again  stalking 
about  —  vacation  was  coming  with  brutal  alac- 
rity! 

If  they  spent  an  evening  alone  in  the  Middle 
Room  both  pretended  to  read,  though  each  saw 
only  words  which  were  forbidden  to  their 
tongues. 

One  evening  after  many  painful  evenings, 
Ralph  broke  tabu. 

"  Do  you  know,  Anna,"  he  spoke  up  suddenly, 
"  that  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  come  right  out 


98  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

with  our  whole  affair  to  father,  and  ask  him  to 
let  me  marry  you  and  bring  you  home  with  me 
this  vacation.  If  he  only  knew  what  you've  done 
for  me ;  what  you've  saved  me  from.  If  he  could 
understand  how  happy  we've  been,  and  how  com- 
pletely alone  you  will  be  when  I  leave,  he  would 
say,  '  Come,  Laddie,  and  don't  come  alone.'  Oh, 
he  would  be  so  good  to  you,  if  he  could  only  be 
made  to  understand.  I  know  my  father  — •  he'd 
make  you  forget  you  had  ever  been  an  orphan. 
He  would  not  allow  you  to  remember  that  you 
ever  were  friendless.  He'd  love  you  because 
I  love  you  and  finally,  he  would  love  you  —  be- 
cause you  are  lovable." 

Again  Anna  sat  down  in  the  big  arm-chair  — 
already  occupied.  Ralph  talked  on :  "  We'd 
land  at  Honolulu,  and  father  would  give  us  a 
great  party.  A  dancing  and  surf  party  com- 
bined. We  would  ride  our  horses  out  to  the  pa- 
vilion and  dance  till  we  were  satisfied,  and  then 
we  would  get  into  swimming  suits,  and  play  in 
the  water  till  we  wished  supper.  After  that  we 
would  dance  some  more,  and  finish  by  riding 
home  in  the  moonlight." 

"  But  I  cannot  dance,"  said  Anna,  regretfully. 

"Is  that  so?"  asked  Ralph  in  surprise.  He 
did  not  know  when  he  could  not  dance.  Always 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  99 

he  had  seen  plantation  workers  dancing  in  the 
moonlight,  and  always  he  had  imitated  them. 
When  he  was  fourteen  he  had  attended  dancing 
school,  but  he  had  little  to  learn. 

"  We'll  go  to  Faure  Dancing  Academy,  to- 
morrow night,  and  every  evening  for  an  hour, 
till  we  sail  for  home.  Home !  Anna,  my  home ; 
your  home !  Doesn't  it  sound  heavenly  ?  " 

Anna  learned  to  dance.  She  learned  easily. 
She  was  fascinated  by  it,  but  she  had  to  keep 
her  mind  on  the  steps,  while  Ralph  could  have 
solved  a  problem  in  mathematics  and  his  feet 
would  have  waltzed  on,  unconscious  of  the  ab- 
stracted brain. 

The  ghost  had  become  a  fairy;  the  skeleton 
was  clothed  in  flesh  and  showed  the  face  of  a 
friend.  Vacation  was  the  dearest  subject  of  con- 
versation. Enthusiastically  Ralph  talked,  de- 
scribed and  explained. 

"  We'll  go  to  Rainbow  Land  together !  At 
Honolulu  we'll  take  an  inter-island  boat  for  the 
Bay.  You'll  see  the  house  where  I  was  born. 
Father  had  it  remodeled  according  to  Hermann 
Burckhardt's  ideas.  Hermann  said  that  the  ac- 
tinic or  short  rays"  of  light  destroy  living  pro- 
toplasm and  that  the  roof  of  a  veranda  in  the 


ioo  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

tropics  should  come  down  so  low  that  a  person 
seated  in  a  room  cannot  see  the  sky.  So  a  low- 
roofed  veranda,  as  wide  as  this  room  runs  en- 
tirely around  the  house,  and  is  supplied  with  ham- 
mocks, chairs  and  tables,  for  we  live  on  it,  except 
in  rainy  times.  There  you  shall  lie  through  the 
warm,  still  days,  for  Hermann  would  positively 
forbid  your  being  outside  from  eleven  o'clock 
in  the  forenoon,  till  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
He  said  that  all  living  forms  were  distributed 
in  zones,  whose  boundaries  were  isothermals,  and 
that  the  human  type  found  in  one  zoological  zone 
is  found  nowhere  else.  He  said  that  acclimatiza- 
tion is  impossible,  therefore,  when  migrated  out 
of  its  zone,  extinction  always  follows,  sooner  or 
later.  He  repeatedly  said  that  the  United  States 
is  not  an  Aryan  climate,  and  is  fit  only  for  Span- 
iards, Japanese  and  Indians  of  swarthy  skin  and 
pigmented  eyes  and  hair.  White  men  in  India, 
he  said,  by  their  intelligence,  -survive  as  long  as 
two  generations,  but  with  all  their  care,  a  third 
generation  is  unknown.  In  Australia,  the  native 
white  families  are  already  dying  out,  and  he  said 
we  are  safe  in  predicting  the  death  of  the  Boer 
type  in  time.  Upon  that  basis,  father  asserts  that 
the  United  States  need  have  no  fear  of  permanent 
German  colonies  in  South  America,  for  they  will 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  101 

die  out  and  there  will  be  no  third  generation  of 
such  blondes  to  cause  the  United  States  any  fu- 
ture trouble.  Hermann  maintained  that  a  spe- 
cies is  sharply  limited  in  its  northern  and  south- 
ern extensions." 

"  Ralph !  how  could  you  remember  such  a  lot 
of  science?  "  exclaimed  Anna,  putting  her  hands 
to  her  head. 

"  Oh,  I  didn't/'  laughed  Ralph.  "  You  see, 
father  swears  by  Hermann  Burckhardt  to  this 
day  and  his  religious  stunts  consist  of  the  intona- 
tion of  Hermann's  credos  into  my  ears." 

"  Tell  me  some  more  about  the  house,  but  leave 
out  the  zones,"  begged  Anna. 

"  All  right ;  you're  in  the  hammock,  you  know. 
Just  lie  there  and  watch  the  white  doves  fly  down 
to  the  fountains;  smell  the  thousand  blossoms 
climbing  over  the  lattice,  reach  out  a  hand  and 
pluck  an  orange  from  a  salaaming  branch,  and  if 
you  hunger,  Kalani  will  run  to  the  far-removed 
cook  house  and  fetch  you  Kona  coffee  and  cakes. 
And  I  shall  be  a  nonentity !  "  sighed  Ralph.  "  Joe 
will  fall  in  love  with  you  and  forget  that  I  was, 
am,  or  ever  shall  be.  Kalani  will  spend  all  his 
days  weaving  leis  of  roses  for  you,  and  father  — 
will  love  me  more  thart  ever  for  bringing  him 
Venus  de  Milo !  " 


102  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"  Oh,  Ralph,  how  foolish  you  are,"  and  a  hand 
was  clapped  over  his  mouth. 

When  the  hand  was  removed  he  continued : 
"  Then  at  night  we'll  mount  our  ponies  and  ride 
under  the  glorious  moon.  Ride  fast  and  free 
over  smooth  roads  under  arching  branches ;  ride 
gingerly  over  coils  of  old  lava;  ride  between  walls 
of  night-blooming  cereus ;  ride  down  into  gulches, 
where  you  will  have  to  stand  in  your  stirrups  to 
keep  your  mount ;  ride  abreast  over  green  velvet ; 
ride  singly  along  rocky  precipices.  Ride,  ride, 
ride,  till  the  red  ball  dies.  Then  we  will  return 
to  sleep  on  Hermann's  cool,  dark  veranda.  Next 
day  we  will  go  out  to  the  big  pili-thatched  play- 
house and  you  and  Kalani  and  I  will  pretend  we 
are  all  just  six  years  old  again,  and  we  will  set 
up  the  toy  trees  and  houses  and  animals  and  eat 
out  of  dishes  no  bigger  than  a  dime.  There  will 
come  a  day,"  Ralph's  voice  took  on  a  serious 
tone,  "  when  Kalani  will  prepare  you  a  meal  of 
the  most  delicious  food  ever  made  by  mortal 
hand.  He  will  bring  you  a  bowl  of  poi!  When 
you  taste  it  you  will  call  it  sour  paste  —  but 
don't.  Don't  if  you  want  Kalani  to  live. 

"  Oh,  it  can  all  come  true,  Anna ;  I  am  not  too 
young  to  marry ;  I  am  nearly  eighteen  and  father 
married  young." 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  103 

"  But  how  would  I  ever  get  you  back  to  the 
Middle  Room?  Penned  up  in  just  one  room 
after  all  the  sky  for  a  roof?  " 

Ralph  tried  to  look  perplexed.  Then  he 
seemed  to  solve  the  riddle. 

"  I  see !  I  see !  There  won't  be  any  Middle 
Room  after  father  meets  Venus  de  Milo.  It  will 
be  an  airy  suite  at  Sea  View  Villa." 

The  days  sped,  but  the  faster  the  better ! 

"  We'll  go  home  on  one  of  father's  boats,"  de- 
clared Ralph.  "  Captain  Cunningham  is  my 
brother-in-law  and  we'll  take  passage  with  him. 
The  boat  is  a  sailer,  and  therefore  slow,  but  that 
will  be  all  the  jollier." 

A  few  days  later :  "  I  am  thinking  out  my 
great  letter  to  father ;  every  day  I  think  of  some- 
thing to  strengthen  my  case.  I  don  t  want  to 
pen  it  till,  I  have  made  it  so  strong  and  so  con- 
vincing that  he  will  draw  the  inevitable  conclu- 
sion that  his  '  No  '  and  not  his  '  Yes  '  will  wreck 
my  future. 

"  When  I  finish  school,  father  and  I  are  to  take 
a  two  years'  tour  around  the  world.  Now,  in- 
stead of  two  people,  there  will  be  three.  The 
immortal  three !  One  for  all  and  all  for  one !  " 

One  evening  Ralph  lay  stretched  out  on  the  , 
lounge  among  the  innumerable  cushions,   while 


io4  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Anna  washed  the  dishes   in  the   Dining  Room. 

"  I  am  going  out  for  a  Turkish  bath,"  he  said, 
rising.  "If  I  am  very  late,  please  put  Venus  de 
Milo  to  bed,"  and  laughing,  he  went  out. 

When  Anna  opened  her  sleepy  blue  eyes  next 
morning,  she  concluded  that  it  was  late,  for  Ralph 
was  gone  to  school.  She  leaned  out  of  bed  to 
look  at  the  white  and  gold  clock,  but  it  had 
stopped  —  it  pointed  to  six  o'clock;  but,  no,  it 
was  ticking  robustly.  The  hands  must  have 
caught.  She  got  into  slippers  and  kimono  and 
went  to  Mrs.  Lacey's  room. 

"  What  is  it,  darlin'  ?  "  came  through  the  door. 

Anna  asked  the  time. 

"  It's  just  six  o'clock,"  she  was  answered. 

Anna  stood  irresolute  a  moment  and  then  went 
back  to  her  room.  She  was  dazed.  What  had 
happened  to  Ralph  ? 

Had  his  heart  failed  in  the  bath  ?  As  soon  as 
she  lieard  Mrs.  Lacey  stirring  she  went  white  and 
trembling  to  her. 

"  Don't  you  worry,  darlin',  he's  all  right.  He 
just  laid  down  to  rest  after  his  bath  and  fell 
asleep.  He'll  be  home  soon." 

At  nine  o'clock  she  said  to  the  crying  girl: 
"  He  just  overslept,  and  when  he  woke  it  was 
school  time.  You'll  be  gettin'  a  telephone,  soon." 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  105 

Anna  tried  to  kill  time  by  dressing  herself;  by 
combing  her  hair ;  by  making  coffee  she  could  not 
drink ;  by  toasting  bread  she  could  not  eat.  Then 
she  went  again  to  Mrs.  Lacey. 

"  Now,  darlin',  be  aisy,  you'll  hear  by  noon," 
she  solaced. 

And  so  it  was. 

As  the  white  and  gold  clock  told  twelve,  some- 
one knocked  on  her  door.  She  opened  it  to  a 
messenger  boy,  who  gave  her  a  letter  from  Ralph. 
It  read: 

"  A  terrible  thing  has  happened.  It  will  kill  my  father 
and  break  your  heart.  I  am  enclosing  a  money  order  for 
all  the  cash  I  can  raise  and  will  send  more  later.  Oh, 
Anna,  dear  love,  dear  wife,  Aloha !  Aloha !  " 

For  an  hour  she  read  and  re-read  the  note,  then 
she  took  it  to  Mrs.  Lacey. 

"  He  says  he  will  '  send '  the  money,"  she 
pointed  out.  "  Isn't  he  coming  back  ?  "  and  she 
laid  her  head  on  Mrs.  Lacey's  shoulder  and  cried 
as  once  before  she  had  done  on  a  wharf,  when 
she  had  thought  she  might  see  him  no  more  for- 
ever. 

"  Whativer  is  the  matter,  don't  ye  doubt  him, 
darlin',"  comforted  that  lady,  "  he'll  come  back 
just  as  soon  as  iver  he  can  and  it's  not  his  fault, 
whatever  it  is  —  the  sweet  young  man." 


106  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

But  when  Anna  had  gone  restlessly  back  to  her 
room,  Mrs.  Lacey  had  a  word  with  Mrs.  Lacey  — 
"  They're  all  divils,  ivery  one  ov  them,"  said  the 
former  lady  to  the  latter. 

In  the  middle  of  the  night,  Mrs.  Lacey  was 
awakened;  she  listened;  she  heard  a  sound;  she 
located  it;  she  went  to  Anna's  room;  the  door 
opened  at  her  touch.  Anna's  door  unlocked  at 
midnight!  The  girl  forever  afraid  of  the  softest 
step  outside  her  door!  Mrs.  Lacey  found  her 
sitting  up  in  bed  weaving  to  and  fro  and  crying 
so  unrestrainedly  that  the  policeman  on  his  beat 
might  have  heard  —  had  he  been  on  his  beat. 

She  looked  not  up  at  Mrs.  Lacey,  nor  ceased 
to  weave  or  cry. 

"  Oh,  darlin',  lay  down  and  go  to  sleep.  He'll 
be  back  soon.  Ye  couldn't  keep  him  away. 
You're  the  light  of  his  eyes,  and  he  is  the  true- 
hearted  boy  —  that  he  is."  And  Mrs.  Lacey  con- 
tinued to  talk  and  caress  till  Anna  did  most  un- 
willingly float  off  to  No-fear-land. 

Then  Mrs.  Lacey  had  another  word  with  Mrs. 
Lacey.  "  The  dirty  loafer!  Sure  it  was  meself 
that  knew  him  for  a  blackguard  the  first  time  I 
set  me  eyes  on  him.  The  hathen  Oriental !  " 

Night  after  night,  Mrs.  Lacey  was  awakened. 
Night  after  night  she  made  her  journey  through 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  107 

the  door  which  was  always  open.  Night  after 
night  she  sounded  Ralph's  praises  into  Anna's 
eager  ears,  till  the  ears  heard  not  and  the  blue 
eyes  saw  but  dreams  —  dreams  all  happiness  with 
Ralph  forever  returned ! 

Faint  and  fagged  for  want  of  sleep,  Mrs. 
Lacey,  each  morning,  resumed  her  daily  stoop 
over  tub  and  irons.  At  last  it  did  occur  to  Anna 
that  it  must  tire  out  Mrs.  Lacey  to  be  so  robbed 
of  her  rest  and  she  resolved  to  cry  more  softly 
—  to  cry  with  her  face  in  her  pillow.  When 
Anna  expressed  regret  at  the  thoughtlessness  in 
disturbing  Mrs.  Lacey's  sleep,  that  lady  ex- 
claimed : 

"  It's  glad  I  am,  darlin',  to  have  an  excuse  to 
roam  about  at  night.  I  am  that  restless  that  I 
don't  be  gettin'  two  hours'  sleep  the  whole  night 
through  and  I  lay  till  me  back  is  achin'  from  the 
bed." 

Great  was  Mrs.  Lacey  at  fairy  tales. 

At  the  end  of  the  month,  Anna  paid  the  rent 
and  waited.  At  the  close  of  the  second  month 
she  repeated  the  two  acts.  The  third  month, 
Mrs.  Lace\r  paid  the  M iddle  Room  rent  — "  Just 
a  loan  to  the  sweet,  young  man,"  she  told  Anna. 
"  and  well  I  know,  it's  big  interest  he'll  pay  me 
when  he  comes  back." 


io8  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

The  fourth  month  D.  Porwancher  paid  the 
rent  of  the  Middle  Room.  "  I  owed  him  some 
money,"  said  D.  Porwancher,  "  and  I  know  he 
will  be  glad  to  have  it  returned  in  this  way." 

D.  Porwancher,  you  have  the  essentials  of  a 
novelist ! 

The  fifth  month  Anna  sold  the  white  and  gold 
bed.  The  sixth  month  the  great  floor  rug  went. 
Another  thirty  days  and  the  floor  space  was  in- 
creased by  the  removal  of  the  bookcase,  center 
table  and  big,  easy  chair. 

One  day  Mrs.  Lacey  met  Anna  at  the  ground 
floor  entrance.  Mrs.  Lacey 's  arms  were  full  of 
groceries.  At  Anna's  side  stood  a  gentleman. 
As  Mrs.  Lacey  drew  near  he  lifted  his  hat  and 
passed  on. 

"  Why  didn't  you  ask  him  in,  dearie  ?  "  said 
Mrs.  Lacey.  "  It's  when  we're  lonesome  that  we 
dp  be  needin'  friends.  Have  you  known  him 
long?  "  she  queried. 

"  Only  a  week.  He  sat  opposite  me  in  the 
street  car  one  day  and  we  happened  to  alight  at 
the  same  corner,  so  he  helped  me  off  the  car." 

Mrs.  Lacey  and  Anna  ascended  the  stairs. 

"  Come  into  my  room,  darlin'." 

Anna  followed  her. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  109 

"  Was  that  the  last  ye  saw  of  him  till  to-clay?  " 
continued  Airs.  Lacey. 

"  No,  he  walked  on  by  my  side  that  first  time, 
till  we  passed  a  cafe,  then  he  asked  me  to  have 
lunch.  At  first  I  refused,  but  he  urged  me  and  I 
was  hungry,  Mrs.  Lacey,  so  finally,  I  went  in. 
He  came  back  on  the  car  with  me.  He  didn't 
ask  permission  to  do  so  and  I  couldn't  very  well 
prevent  him,  after  eating  at  his  expense.  I've 
met  him  often  since  on  the  car,  and  each  time  he 
has  begged  me  to  let  him  call  at  my  room ;  but  I 
can't  let  him  come  into  the  Middle  Room,"  and 
down  dropped  the  tears  that  had  worn  .Mrs. 
Lacey  to  an  angularity  that  was  dangerous  to  the 
public. 

Mrs.  Lacey  pressed  her  pillow  that  night  in  a 
deeply  contemplative  frame  of  mind. 

"  Darlin',"  she  said,  next  morning,  "  do  ye  be- 
lieve in  warnin's  ?  " 

Anna  didn't  know.     None  had  ever  visited  her. 

Mrs.  Lacey  lowered  her  voice  — "  I  always 
have  them  when  there's  a  death !  " 

She  paused  to  give  the  idea  time  to  get  into 
Anna's  practical  head. 

"  And  they  always  come  true !  " —  another 
pause. 


no  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"In  all  me  life,  they've  niver  failed  me!" — 
further  rhetorical  silence. 

"  I  had  one  last  night !  " 

Anna  woke  up.  "  Did  you?  "  she  asked  with 
widening  eyes. 

"  I  did  that,"  emphasized  Mrs.  Lacey.  "  There 
was  three  knocks  on  the  head  of  me  bed  —  that's 
a  death !  There  was  two  knocks  on  the  foot  of 
me  bed  —  that  means  it's  in  me  house.  There 
was  a  knock  on  the  right  side  of  me  bed ;  on  the 
right  side,  mind  ye  —  that  means  it's  a  man! 
And  last  came  sivin  knocks ;  sivin  do  ye  mind,  on 
the  left  side  of  me  bed  —  that  means,"  Mrs. 
Lacey's  voice  repeated  in  a  whisper,  "  that  means 
he's  been  dead  sivin  months !  " 

Mrs.  Lacey  waited  for  the  proper  ghostly  faith 
to  germinate  in  Anna,  and  then  with  every  fac- 
ulty at  "  attention,"  prepared  for  a  final  and  vic- 
torious onslaught. 

"  Now,  darlin',  isn't  it  a  great  comfort  to  know 
that  he  niver  deserted  ye  at  all,  at  all,  but  just 
died,  the  sweet  young  man !  " 

A  momentary  halt  was  strategic ;  then  the  gen- 
eral advanced.  "  And  ye  are  a  widow !  "  The 
general  saluted.  "  And  it's  no  good  ye  will  be 
doin'  him  or  yourself  by  stayin'  here  all  alone." 
The  general  sounded  taps. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  in 

The  gentleman  of  the  street  car  called.  He 
arrived  late  and  left  early.  The  first  time  he  en- 
tered the  Middle  Room,  he  put  an  arm  around 
Anna,  saying,  "  Give  me  a  kiss." 

She  stood  passive,  while  he  pressed  his  mouth 
to  hers. 

"  Oh,  warm  up !  "  said  the  street-car  gentle- 
man. 

He  had  the  habit  of  coming  rather  regularly  for 
a  couple  of  weeks,  and  then  staying  away  for  the 
same  length  of  time. 

On  one  of  his  visits  Anna  said  to  him,  "  I  need 
a  pair  of  shoes." 

"  Let  me  see  your  shoes." 

She  showed  them.  The  soles  were  worn 
through  and  the  kid  peeled  off  in  patches.  He 
walked  to  the  closet  to  see  if  there  were  a  better 
pair  which  she  was  hiding.  There  were  no 
others. 

"  You  can  get  these  half  soled  for  fifty  cents, 
and  a  ten-cent  bottle  of  blacking  will  make 
them  look  like  new."  He  handed  her  sixty  cents. 

On  another  visit  Anna  said,  "  There  is  nothing 
to  eat  in  the  house."  He  crossed  over  to  the 
Dining  Room  and  opened  some  cans.  One  con- 
tained coffee,  the  others,  nothing.  In  a  paper 


ii2  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

bag  was  a  half  loaf  of  bread,  on  a  saucer,  an 
inch  square  of  butter. 

"  You  should  get  a  package  of  breakfast 
cereal ;  it  is  very  nourishing  and  lasts  a  long 
time,"  he  told  her,  "  and  it  will  cost  only  twenty- 
five  cents  —  a  cake  of  butter,  also  twenty-five 
cents;  milk,  a  pint,  five  cents  per  day;  one  loaf 
of  bread  a  day,  five  cents.  I'll  fix  you  out  for  a 
couple  of  weeks,  then  I'll  be  around  again."  He 
handed  her  two  dollars. 

Months  make  years,  according  to  the  almanac, 
and  one  day  there  came  a  day  when  it  was  one 
year  from  the  day  of  the  Turkish  bath. 

Venus  de  Milo  celebrated  the  anniversary  by 
crying.  Crying  the  kind  of  tears  that  swell  the 
eyelids  and  make  the  nose  red  —  which  also  blis- 
ter the  heart  and  break  the  hold  on  life. 

Toward  evening,  Venus  put  on  her  cloak  and 
hat ;  also  a  veil.  Then  she  walked  back  into  the 
laundry-kitchen  department  and  put  both  arms 
around  the  wash-board  lady's  neck  and  kissed  her 
twice  and  then  again.  From  there  she  descended 
to  D.  Porwancher  and  put  her  arms  about  his 
neck  and  kissed  him  on  both  cheeks.  She  found 
Girt  and  kissed  him  also.  Then  she  went. 
Where?  To  hell! 


IV 


Far  across  the  continent  where  they  stand  in 
ice  cream  half  the  year,  Grace  Howells  was  walk- 
ing slowly  from  University  Avenue  on  to  the 
Campus  of  the  University  of  Minnesota.  As  she 
walked,  she  read  from  a  book  of  red  and  gold : 

"  Unless  you  can  think,  when  the  song  is  done 

No  other  is  soft  in  the  rhythm; 
Unless  you  can  feel,  when  left  by  one, 

That  all  men  else  go  with  him; 
Unless  you  can  know  when  unpraised  by  his  breath, 

That  your  beauty  itself  wants  proving; 
Unless  you  can  swear  'for  life,  for  death' — 

Oh,  fear  to  call  it  loving ! " 

Partly  closing  the  book,  she  left  the  broad  way 
leading  to  the  main  building  and  crossed  the  soft 
green  tJ  sit  under  the  majestic  oaks.  Reopening 
the  boc  k  she  continued  to  read : 

'  Unless  you  can  muse  in  a  crowd  all  day, 
On  the  absent  face  that  fixed  you ; 

Unless  you  can  love  as  the  angels  may, 
With  the  breadth  of  heaven  betwixt  you ; 

Unless  you  can  dream  that  his  faith  is  fast 
Through  behooving  and  unbehooving; 

"3 


ii4  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Unless  you  can  die  when  the  dream  is  past  — 
Oh,  never  call  it  loving !  " 

"  Too  early,  Grace,  to  sit  on  Mother  Earth's 
lap  —  her  apron  is  damp  from  the  spring  wash- 
ing." 

"  I  guess  you're  right,  Tom." 

At  which  reply  a  strong  hand  reached  down  to 
help  her  up  and  they  passed  on  together. 

Hours  later,  when  she  faced  homeward,  she 
again  opened  the  book  of  red  and  gold : 

"  Unless  you  can  feel  when  left  by  one, 
That  all  men  else  go  with  him  " — 

"Where  is  he?  Will  I  ever  find  him?"  she 
whispered. 

"  Oh,  to  ^eel  '  That  all  men  else  go  with  him.' 
How  would  it  feel  ?  I  have  never  felt  it,  and  yet 
I  am  not  young." 

No,  not  young;  she  had  lived  two  and  twenty 
years ;  and  how  she  ached  to  look  upon  the  One. 

For  a  few  weeks,  however,  she  forgot  the  One 
To  Be  for  the  One  Who  Had  Been  —  her  father. 
With  failing  eyes  and  shriveling  lungs,  he  had 
clung  to  his  high  stool  and  low  pay  at  the  small 
desk  of  a  little  business  concern  and  by  sheer 
bull-dozing  had  forced  his  coward  heart  to  stand 
by  the  pumps,  had  ordered  the  dimming  eyes  to 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  115 

continue  to  see,  till  Grace  should  have  finished 
her  college  course  and  now,  with  not  a  drop  of 
yellow  in  him,  those  miserable  subalterns  had  de- 
livered him  to  the  foe  —  and  Grace  not  through 
school  by  a  whole  year! 

Grace  returned  from  the  cemetery  to  several 
things  —  an  empty  home ;  an  empty  purse ;  a  cer- 
tainty of  having  to  work ;  an  uncertainty  of  being 
able  to  find  work  and  the  definite  postponement 
to  an  indefinite  time  of  her  graduation  day. 

Her  first  step  was  to  leave  the  rooms  for  two 
and  seek  one  for  one.  Her  next,  to  secure  em- 
ployment. In  the  latter  quest  she  had  two  sur- 
prises —  one  at  the  ease  with  which  office  work 
was  obtained,  and  the  other  at  the  microscopic 
salary  attached. 

She  cried  herself  to  sleep  the  night  following 
the  surprises.  There  was  not  enough  money  in 
the  pay  to  buy  clothes.  How,  then,  was  she  to 
save  enough  for  another  college  year? 

She  was  young,  which  is  a  synonym  for  inextin- 
guishable hope.  She  felt  sure  that  faithful,  effi- 
cient work  would  be  recognized  and  rewarded. 
But  for  her  confidence  on  the  last  point  it  might 
have  been  necessary  to  beg  pardon  for  calling  her 
young,  after  her  own  statement  to  the  contrary. 
Intrepidly  she  entered  her  workshop  door,  but 


n6  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

with  all  that  hope  and  resolution  could  do  for  her, 
the  work  bored  her.  It  was  a  repetitious,  me- 
chanical grind,  which  any  child  could  perform  if 
trained.  All  day  long  in  the  mill  she  guided  the 
logs  to  the  steel  teeth. 

The  people  bored  her  —  the  girls,  who  thought 
advertising  rhymes  were  poetry;  the  men,  who 
had  finished  school  at  a  dozen  years  of  age ;  and 
most  of  all,  the  manager,  who  condescended  to 
her  in  grammar  that  would  have  shamed  a 
baboon,  she  thought. 

"  Unless  you  can  muse  in  a  crowd  all  day, 
On  the  absent  face  that  fixed  you," 

she  repeated  day  after  day,  as  she  shoved  the 
lumber  to  the  saw.  If  only  she  had  One  to  muse 
on,  she  might  shut  out  the  stupid  faces  about  her 
and  the  still  stupider  twaddle. 

Then  the  vision  appeared.  It  rose  before  her 
in  the  elevator;  He  was  handsome  as  a  Greek 
god,  but  so  had  been  more  than  one  university 
athlete  who  had  smiled  on  Grace  Howells.  His 
clothes  were  faultless;  but  so  was  the  apparel 
of  many  a  student  who  had  striven  for  her 
favor. 

She  knew  him  at  once  as  the  One,  for  in  his 
eyes  sat  Mastery.  The  others  had  begged ;  when 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  117 

the  time  came,  he  would  simply  walk  into  posses- 
sion. 

And  the  man?  He  felt  that  he  had  found  a 
suitable  female  —  a  goddess  for  the  god.  On 
her  cheeks  flushed  girlhood's  bloom,  but  out  of 
the  eyes  looked  the  woman,  hungering  for  her 
mate.  As  he  gazed,  he  desired,  and  with  him 
desire  and  determination  to  possess  went  ever 
hand  in  hand.  He  sometimes  failed  of  his  goal 
—  not  often.  He  held  her  eyes  till  they  dropped 
in  surrender.  He  would  not  fail  this  time! 

No  more  did  the  office  rabble  annoy. 

She  could  "muse  in  a  crowd  all  day,  on  the 
absent  face  that  fixed  "  her;  but  would  she  have 
to  "  love  as  the  angels  may,  with  the  breadth  of 
heaven  betwixt"  them?  Where  did  he  live? 
Had  he  vanished  from  her  sight  forever? 

,  Never  fear,  Grace  Howells!     The  Greek  god 
knows  where  you  are. 

He  "  happened  "  to  be  on  the  sidewalk  when 
she  came  down  from  work  that  night.  The  next 
night  it  "  happened "  again.  The  third  night, 
and  all  the  rest,  he  waited  for  her.  He  requested 
permission  to  call  on  her  and  he  called. 

Grace's  room,  like  all  rooms  of  all  girls,  who 
are  artistic,  intellectual  and~poor,  was  a  charming 
little  parlor  when  a  friend  came,  a  dining-room 


n8  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

when  she  set  out  her  canned  food,  and  a  bed- 
room when  the  folding  bed  unfolded. 

On  his  first  call,  the  charming  little  parlor  was 
made  more  charming  by  fresh  flowers  and  the 
canned  goods  were  obliterated  by  new  curtains 
over  their  shelves.  Rose-colored  shades  made 
sunset  of  the  gas ;  the  folded  bed  was  a  chiffonier, 
holding  photos  and  college  souvenirs.  The 
kitchen  table  cowered  out  of  sight,  under  a  silken 
spread  and  load  of  books. 

She  learned  his  name  —  Merritt  Jordan ;  his 
business,  junior  manager  for  an  insurance  com- 
pany. His  work  took  him  out  of  Minneapolis 
a  part  of  each  month.  Every  evening,  when 
in  town,  he  spent  in  Grace's  small  room. 
Always,  before  he  left,  she  spread  a  dainty 
luncheon. 

At  first  they  conversed  or  read  to  each  other. 
Later,  one  evening,  as  he  sat  fingering  the  pages 
of  a  volume  of  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning's 
poems,  a  brilliant  scheme  unfolded  before  his 
exulting  eyes.  He  would  court  by  proxy.  From 
those  throbbing  sonnets  he  would  read  to  Grace, 
and  she  should  reply  in  the  impassioned  words 
of  the  most  impassioned  of  women  lovers.  With 
the  same  book  of  poems  between  them,  he  would 
read : 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  119 

"  Love  me,  sweet,  with  all  thou  art, 

Feeling,  thinking,  seeing; 

Love  me  in  the  lightest  part, 

Love  me  in  full  being." 

Then  she : 

"  The  face  of  all  the  world  is  changed  I  think, 
Since  first  I  heard  the  footsteps  of  thy  soul." 

He: 

"  Love  me  with  thy  open  youth 

In  its  frank  surrender; 
With  the  vowing  of  thy  mouth 
With  its  silence  tender." 

She: 

"  What  can  I  give  thee  back,  oh,  liberal 
And  princely  giver,  who  hast  brought  the  gold 
And  purple  of  thine  heart  unstained,  untold, 
And  laid  them  on  the  outside  of  the  wall 
For  such  as  I  ?  " 

Periodically,  Grace  Howells  framed  her  heart 
in  crepe  —  for  the  days  she  could  not  see  him, 
hear  him,  feel  him ;  when  all  her  occupation  was 
to  "  muse  in  a  crowd  all  day  on  the  absent  face 
that  fixed  "  her,  when  all  sensation  was  summed 
up  in  feeling  that,  "  When  left  by  One,  all  men 
else  go  with  him." 

For  their  mutual  enjoyment  he  brought  a  piano 
into  her  room.  He  sang,  but  could  not  play;  she 


120  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

played,  but  did  not  sing.  Leaning  against  the 
piano  till  he  faced  her  playing  his  accompaniment, 
and  holding  her  eyes  with  the  mastery  of  his  own, 
he  would  lift  his  well-trained  baritone  in :  "  Love 
Me  and  the  World  is  Mine." 
Again : 

"  Oh,  wert  thou  in  the  cold  blast,  on  yonder  lea,  on  yonder 

lea, 
My  plaidie  to  the  angry  airt,  I'd  shelter  thee,  I'd  shelter 

thee !  " 

He  was  a  dramatic  singer  —  an  arm  answered 
for  the  plaidie. 

Then  again  came  those  days  of  blackness  when 
he  came  not,  to  be  succeeded  by  the  flood  tide 
radiance  of  his  presence. 

Two  must  needs  sit  very  close  to  read  out  of 
the  same  book.  Shoulders  often  touched,  and 
sometimes,  even  heads.  Sitting  thus  he  would 
read: 

"Red  grows  the  cheek  and  warm  the  hand, 

The  part  is  in  the  whole ; 
Nor  hands  nor  cheeks  keep  separate, 
When  soul  is  joined  to  soul." 


He  put  it  to  the  test. 
Her  reply: 


"  I  should  not  love  withal  unless  that  thou 
Hadst  set  me  an  example,  shown  me  how, 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  121 

When  first  thine  earnest  eyes  with  mine  were  crossed, 
And  love  called  love." 

Then  both  to  the  piano :  "  Give  me  your  hand, 
say  you  understand,  My  Dearie,  My  Dearie." 

Did  ever  lover  before  woo  wholly  in  quotation? 
Grace  wondered. 

"  But  the  king  may  fashion  his  own  path,"  she 
loyally  declared. 

When  the  fact  that  he  never  spent  an  evening 
with  her  outside  of  her  own  room,  caused  her  to 
ponder  a  moment,  the  very  next  she  exonerated 
him  and  accused  her  own  heart  of  selfishness. 

In  her  prettiest  house  dress,  she  sat  waiting, 
waiting  after  several  days  of  having  been  "  left 
by  One."  Of  a  surety,  days  in  which  all  men 
else  went  with  him.  All  men?  Oh,  all  ex- 
istence ! 

With  the  blood  sprung  threefold  into  the  pink 
cheeks  she  waited.  Waited,  the  saint  with 
adoring  eyes.  On  its  knees  knelt  her  spirit  in 
renunciation  life-consuming;  waiting,  watching 
for  the  the  softest  sign  of  the  Presence.  She 
heard,  she  saw,  she  felt.  A  tap  outside,  lips  to 
lips,  two  forms  close  seated  —  and  the  book. 

He: 

"  Love  me  with  thy  azure  eyes 
Made  for  earnest  granting; 


122  THE  ROSE  DOOR 


Love  me  with  their  lids  that  fall 
Snow-like  at  first  meeting." 


She: 


My  own,  my  own  who  earnest  to  me  when  the  world  was 

gone, 
And  I  who  looked  for  only  God,  found  thee." 

He: 

"Love  me  with  thy  hand  stretched  out  freely; 
Love  me  with  thy  voice  that  turns 
Sudden  faint  above  me; 
Love  me  with  thy  blush  that  burns 
When  I  murmur,  '  love  me  ' !  " 

She: 

"  Thou  comest !     All  is  said  without  a  word. 
I  sit  beneath  thy  looks  as  children  do 
In  the  noon  sun,  with  souls  that  tremble  thru 
.Their  happy  eyelids  from  an  unaverred 
Yet  prodigal  joy." 

He: 

"  Love  me  with  thy  thoughts  that  roll 
On  through  living,  dying, 
Love  me  in  thy  gorgeous  airs 
When  the  world  has  crowned  thee; 
Love  me  gaily,  fast  and  true 
As  a  winsome  lady ; 
Love  me  for  the  house  and  grave — " 

He  closed  the  book. 

"  Oh,  you  left  out  the  last  verse,"  she  laughed. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  123 

"  That's  a  libel  on  my  sex,"  he  retorted. 
"  Why  did  Elizabeth  fling  that  slur  at  men  and 
then  lie  down  at  Robert's  feet?  " 

Grace's  mouth  spoke  never  a  word,  but  she 
lifted  his  hand  to  her  lips. 

With  the  mastery  she  loved  he  drew  her  to 
the  piano  and  with  the  lilt  of  a  nesting  thrush, 
sang: 

"  Oh,  that  we  two  were  Maying 

Down  the  stream  of  the   soft   spring  breeze; 
Like  children  with  violets  playing 
In  the  shade  of  the  whispering  trees." 

Pink  apple  blossoms  showered  the  earth  as 
she  listened. 

"  Oh,  that  we  two  sat  dreaming 

On  the  sward  of  some  sheep  trimmed  down 
Watching  the  white  mist  steaming 
Over  river  and  mead  and  towr." 

Two,  just  two,  in  all  the  world  sitting  on  the 
sward  of  some  sheep  trimmed  down! 

"  Oh !  that  we  two  lay  sleeping 

In  our  nest  in  the  church  yard  sod, 
With  our  limbs  at  rest  on  the  quiet  earth's  breast, 
And  our  souls  at  home  with  God !  " 

Grace  Ho  wells'  soul  looked  out  of  her  eyes. 
What  need  then,  to  beg: 


i24  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

'Tell  me  that  you  love  me, 
For  that's  the  sweetest  story  ever  told." 

Still,  he  was  not  getting  on  as  well  as  he  had 
a  right  to  expect  after  three  months  of  rehears- 
ing. In  fact,  he  had  not  arrived  anywhere. 
There  was  a  slight  barrier  —  he  knew  what  it 
was.  He  sometimes  failed  of  his  goal  —  not 
often. 

After  the  usual  tempting  lunch  he  drew  her 
into  his  arms  and  with  the  requisite  dramatic 
action,  softly  sang: 

"  When  I  know  that  thou  art  near  me,  in  my  heart  are  joy 

and  rest; 
I   to  slumber  soft  confide   me,   close  my  eyes,   supremely 

blest." 

He  felt  her  tremble  against  him.  He  knew 
that  she  would  lie  awake  long  hours  after  he  left, 
gazing  at  a  picture  in  which  there  was  no  "  Good 
night."  His  own  desire  was  strong  upon  him, 
but  it  must  wait. 

"  I  see  papa !  I  see  papa !  "  shrieked  delightedly 
a  boy  of  seven  years,  standing  at  the  window  of  a 
cottage  in  the  city  of  sand  dunes.  The  boy's 
next  move  was  a  flying  one;  out  the  front  door 
and  down  the  walk  to  the  gate. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  125 

"  I  tummin,  too !  "  yelled  number  two,  aged 
three. 

With  a  child  hanging  to  either  arm  papa  en- 
tered the  house,  where  he  was  met  by  a  woman 
who  kissed  him.  "  Don't  hang  onto  papa  so, 
he's  tired,"  said  the  woman.  Then  to  him: 
"  Supper  is  all  ready  Merritt;  come  right  out;  " 
and  they  all  gathered  around  the  table. 

"  Did  you  get  me  a  pony,  down  in  Minneapo- 
lis? "  asked  the  boy. 

"  No,  son,  not  this  time,  but  I'm  keeping  my 
eye  open  for  one." 

"  Did  oo  det  me  a  dollie?  " 

"  Yes,  I  did,  Miss  Susana,  and  you'll  find  it  in 
my  overcoat  pocket.'" 

Whereupon  Miss  Susana  upset  her  cup  of  milk 
and  clambered  down  to  search  the  pocket. 

"  How  was  business  ?  "  asked  the  woman. 

"  Good ;  first  class !  but  I'll  tell  you  what  I've 
a  notion  to  do,  Ida ;  I  met  a  good  friend  of 
mine  who  is  just  back  from  a  business  trip  to 
California  and  he  says  the  opportunities  in  real- 
estate  deals  are  ten  there  to  one  here,  and  I 
really  would  like  to  exchange  snow  banks  for 
orange  groves,  and  if  I  can  settle  up  business 
here  Without  a  loss,  I'd  like  to  make  my  home 


126  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

in  the  land  of  sunshine  and  flowers.  What  do 
you  say  ?  " 

"  I  know,  Merritt,  that  Duluth  is  only  a  sand 
hill,"  replied  the  woman,  without  enthusiasm, 
"  but  father  and  mother  live  here,  besides  nearly 
all  the  friends  I  have  ever  known,  and  the  most 
genial  climate  cannot  warm  a  lonely  heart." 

The  gentleman  was  not  discouraged;  he  some- 
times failed  of  his  goal  —  not  often. 

"  There's  a  Charity  Fair  at  Symphony  Hall 
to-night ;  shall  we  go  or  are  you  too  tired  ?  " 
asked  the  woman. 

"  I  suppose  we'd  better  go,  though  to  tell  the 
truth  I'd  rather  crawl  into  bed.  It  pays  any 
business  man  to  make  himself  popular  and  it  is 
particularly  profitable  to  the  dealer  in  real  es- 
tate. What  will  you  do  with  the  children?  " 

"  We  can  take  Frank  with  us  and  leave  Susie 
with  mother,  as  we  go  by." 

When  they  arrived  at  the  hall,  a  chorus  went 
up :  "  Oh,  here  is  Mr.  Thompson !  " 

"How  is  Wright,  Black  and  Thompson?" 
greeted  the  ticket  taker. 

"  Flourishing,"  laughed  Mr.  Thompson,  "  real 
estate  is  booming." 

"  We'll  get  him  to  sing  at  the  Library  Fund 
Concert,  next  week,"  whispered  a  plump,  white- 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  127 

haired  lady  to  an  acquaintance,  next  her,  and 
together  they  crossed  over  to  him. 

Mr.  Thompson  assured  them  that  he  would 
be  more  than  happy  to  sing  at  the  Library  Fund 
Concert. 

"  Has  Thompson  and  Company  cornered  the 
earth  ?  "  asked  the  banker. 

"  Business  is  good,"  replied  Mr.  Thompson, 
"  but  Mr.  Wright  is  in  Europe,  and  Black  in 
Florida,  ill,  so  I  have  to  hustle,  with  St.  Paul 
and  Minneapolis  territory,  as  well  as  my  home 
market  to  look  after." 

The  preacher  approached  him  animatedly, 
"  Oh,  come,  let  us  sing  unto  the  Lord,"  he 
quoted  as  he  shook  hands  warmly ;  "  the  choir 
misses  you  sadly,  when  you  are  out  of  town." 

"  And  I  miss  not  only  the  choir,  but  an  ex- 
cellent sermon,  when  I  am  out  of  town,"  re- 
turned Mr.  Thompson. 

Ten  days  later,  Mr.  Thompson  sat  in  his  St. 
Paul  office  signing  type-written  letters.  One 
hundred  times  he  had  written,  "  M.  J.  Thomp- 
son," and  one  hundred  times  more  he  must  set 
that  seal  before  he  could  board  an  inter-urban 
car.  Scratch,  scratch,  scratch  was  all  the  sound 
in  the  room.  In  another  room  were  only  soft 
little  sighs.  The  room  was  ten  miles  distant. 


128  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

In  it  sat  Grace  Howells,  facing  a  door  she  did 
not  see.  She  was  looking  through  it,  far  and 
away. 

A  light  tap,  outside!  A  silken  rustle,  within. 
The  vine  reached  up  to  the  oak  and  was  caught 
fast  in  its  branches. 

"Are  you  glad  to  have  me  back?"  he  whis- 
pered, lips  to  lips. 

"  And  wilt  thou  have  me  fashion  into  words, 
the  love  I  bear  thee?  "  she  quoted. 

That  night  he  sang: 

"  Farewell,  farewell  my  own  true  love, 
A  thousand  times  farewell ; " 

and  the  plaintive  sadness  in  his  voice  echoed  and 
reechoed  long  after  he  was  gone,  and  stole  all 
too  many  hours  of  her  sleep. 

Again  the  following  evening,  he  chose  not  a 
joyous  strain.  With  every  word  drawing  blood, 
he  sang  into  her  enthralled  eyes : 

"  A  hundred  months  have  passed,  Lorena, 

Since  last  I  held  your  hand  in  mine, 
And  felt  the  pulse  beat  fast,  Lorena, 
Tho  mine  beat  faster  far  than  thine." 

Then,  with  the  thrill  of  a  meadow  lark,  he 
finished : 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  129 

"There  is  a  future!    Oh,  thank  God! 

Of  life  this  is  so  small  a  part. 
'Tis  dust  to  dust,  beneath  the  sod, 
But  there,  up  there,  'tis  heart  to  heart ! " 

"  Oh,  don't !  "  was  all  that  came  to  his  ears, 
but  her  pounding  heart  was  crying,  "  A  hundred 
months  apart?  Oh,  better  to  fall  dead  here  and 
now." 

Another  evening  from  the  book. 

He: 

"  I  lift  my  heavy  heart  up  solemnly, 
And  looking  in  thine  eyes,  I  overturn 
The  ashes  at  thy  feet" 

"  Why  so  sad  your  words,"  she  questioned, 
caressing  his  hair. 

He  replied  from  the  book: 

"  Accuse  me  not  that  I  wear 
Too  calm  and  sad  a  face  in  front  of  thine ; 
For  we  two  look  two  ways  and  cannot  shine 
With  the  same  sunlight  on  our  brows  and  hair." 

From  the  book  she  answered  him: 

"My  own  sweet  love,  if  thou  in  the  grave, 

The  darksome  grave  wilt  be ; 
Then  will  I  go  down  by  thy  side  and  crave, 

Love,  room  for  me  and  thee." 


130  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Then  another  period  of  death  when  he  came 
not;  another  resurrection  at  the  dear  familiar 
tap  outside  the  door,  and  the  heart's  nectar  of 
kiss  and  embrace.  But  the  cloud  of  a  smothered 
pain  bedimmed  his  eyes  and  the  halt  of  an  aching 
thought  entangled  his  tongue  —  so  love  inter- 
preted; and  Love  cannot  be  blind  for  his  arrow 
wingeth  sure.  Often  that  evening,  Merritt  Jor- 
dan's head  rested  in  his  hands;  often  faint  sighs 
escaped  him.  He  sang  a  song,  but  his  voice 
broke  in  the  singing. 

"  What  is  it?  "  she  pkaded,  when  she  could  no 
longer  endure  it. 

He,  without  the  book,  "  Could  you  forgive  me 
if  I  had  done  a  wicked,  wicked  thing?  " 

"  You  wouldn't  commit  a  wicked  act,  Mer- 
ritt" 

He,  without  the  book,  "  I  have  done  a  great 
wrong.  I  have  won  your  love,  have  I  not?  " 

She  gave  a  relieved  laugh  and  drew  his  face 
down  to  hers. 

"  That  was  cruel,  Merritt,  to  frighten  me  so." 

"  But  Grace,  you  do  love  me,  don't  you  ?  Tell 
me  plainly." 

"  Merritt,"  she  said,  all  gravity,  "  I  wonder  I 
keep  my  office  position  —  I  am  in  a  daze  all  the 
days  through  dreaming  of  the  evenings  when  I 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  131 

shall  see  you.  Over  everything  is  written, 
'  Merritt ' —  on  the  walls,  on  the  floors,  and  even 
on  the  faces  of  those  about  me.  The  lightest 
room  is  dark  if  you  are  not  in  it;  the  darkest 
place  is  dazzling,  if  out  of  it  looks  your  face.  The 
street  is  empty  when  you  are  not  by  my  side," 
she  lowered  her  voice,  "  there  would  be  no  world 
if  you  were  dead." 

"  That  is  the  wrong  I  have  done  —  I  have 
won  your  love,"  he  said  and  sighed. 

"  Please  stop  joking,  .Merritt." 

"I  am  not  joking!"  He  buried  his  face  in 
his  hands. 

"What  do  you  mean,  Merritt  dear?  Don't 
speak  in  riddles." 

He  lifted  his  head  a  little.  "  I  could  not  help 
loving  you,  Grace.  You  were  a  blushing  rose, 
a  stately  lily  and  a  luscious  fruit  all  in  one  that 
first  time  I  saw  you.  I  can't  help  loving  you 
now,  for  you  are  the  same  lovely  flower,  while 
the  fruit  is  riper  and  sweeter.  But  this  spirit 
of  fragrance  and  color  must  be  put  without 
the  range  of  my  vision  —  this  aroma  which 
I  have  breathed  must  be  placed  beyond  my 
power  of  inhalation.  This  heart  food,  whose 
delicious  flavor  I  have  longed,  oh,  how  I 
have  longed,  to  taste,  must  be  gently  set 


132  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

aside  —  far  aside  where  the  temptation  to  ap- 
propriate it  may  not  lure  me  on  to  its  spoliation. 
Grace,  dear  Grace,  sweetest  of  women,  I  must 
leave  you  forever  —  for  your  sake." 

"  Merritt !  "     It  was  a  cry. 

"  Grace,"  he  spoke,  encircling  her  with  his 
arms,  "  how  much  could  you  forgive  the  man  you 
love  ?  " 

She  leaned  exhaustedly,  contentedly  against 
him  and  closed  her  eyes.  Without  opening  them 
she  told  him  how  much  she  could  forgive  the 
man  she  loved. 

"  I  could  forgive  him  murder,  theft,  forgery, 
arson  and  perjury  —  are  there  any  more 
crimes  ?  " 

"A  few  more,"  he  answered. 

"  Well,  I  forgive  him  all  the  others,  without 
knowing  what  they  are,"  was  her  absolution. 

"  Suppose,"  and  he  bent  his  head  down  over 
her  eyes,  "  suppose  a  married  man  won  the  love 
of  a  girl — " 

She  pulled  away  as  by  a  spasm.  She  looked 
at  him  until  he  felt  cut  into  halves. 

"  Good-bye,  Grace,"  and  he  moved  as  if  to 
rise. 

She  looked  at  him.     He  rose  hesitatingly  to 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  133 

his  feet.     She  only  looked  at  him.     He  walked 
slowly  toward  the  door. 

He  was  going!  She  could  never  find  him  if 
he  went !  The  room  would  never  be  light  again ! 
The  street  would  always  be  empty!  There 
would  be  no  world!  She  tried  to  speak  loudly; 
she  accomplished  a  whisper,  "  Stay,  Merritt." 


Among  hundreds  of  beautiful  residences  sit- 
ting in  the  lap  of  Ocean  View,  three  companions 
lean  contentedly  against  her  bosom  blinking  at 
the  water  through  plate-glass  windows.  About 
the  verandas  of  one  winds  royal  wistaria;  mak- 
ing fitting  canopy  for  her  of  queenly  heart.  At 
one  side  an  arched  way  gives  passage  from  street 
to  garage ;  terraces  slope  toward  Golden  Gate ; 
roses  hedge  the  grounds ;  the  great  trees,  shading 
hammocks,  felt  the  pull  of  swings  and  heard  the 
creak  of  boards  in  the  see-saw  days  of  the  chil- 
dren of  the  house.  The  splendid  attic,  once 
nursery,  now  contains  boxing  gloves  and  fencing 
foils;  its  walls  are  adorned  with  the  pennants 
and  souvenirs,  considered  proper  for  a  male  den, 
by  very  young  males.  One  corner  was  gener- 
ously offered  to  the  only  sister,  to  decorate  as 
she  would,  but  she  had  considered  her  neighbors 
too  barbarous. 

Before  the  top-spinning  days  of  her  own  two 
sons  were  passed,  Agnes  Miller  took  into  this 
134 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  135 

beautiful  home  a  lad,  whose  abode  had  been  the 
streets;  she  laid  soft  raiment  upon  him  who  had 
been  naked;  the  day  before  he  had  dined  at  a 
garbage  barrel,  to-day,  a  bondsman  serves  his 
dinner. 

No  protest  comes  from  Charles  Miller,  the  keen 
eyed  and  alert.  Should  his  wife  incorporate  a 
whole  orphanage  into  the  house,  he  would  stipu- 
late only  that  he  be  allowed  one  small  corner  to 
himself. 

"  Mine  the  business,  hers  the  home,"  his 
motto. 

Agnes  Miller  has  not  found  "  Marriage,  a 
failure,"  nor  "  Life,  a  blunder  and  a  shame." 

On  the  right  of  Wistaria  House  stands  a  brick 
mansion  containing  Ross  and  Lillian  Kenyon  and 
their  baby.  True  the  baby  is  twenty-five  years 
old  and  taller  than  his  father,  yet  he  must  once 
have  been  infantile  else  why  the  hobby-horse  in 
the  brick  attic  ? 

Schoolmates,  brides  and  mothers  together, 
have  been  Lillian  Kenyon  and  Agnes  Miller.  To 
bind  a  friendship  that  needed  no  bonds,  this  only 
son  and  Agnes  Miller's  only  daughter  early 
evinced  a  fondness  for  each  other,  which,  like 
that  of  their  mothers  but  grew  the  more  as  grew 
the  years. 


136  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

A  wizard,  caught  and  imprisoned  for  three 
years  in  Ross  Kenyon's  gilded  cage,  placed  a 
violin  in  the  hands  of  the  five-year-old  boy. 
Then,  though  the  genius  was  old  and  poor,  he 
would  away ;  but  Ross  Kenyon,  the  banker,  could 
secure  the  best  teachers  of  the  world,  if  not  the 
genii  for  his  son;  small  wonder  that  the  boy 
played  divinely. 

Mary  Miller  performed  equally  well  upon  the 
piano  —  but  divinity  doth  not  dwell  within  its 
bones. 

The  yoke  to  which  Herbert  Kenyon  gladly 
bends  his  neck  is  neither  that  of  violin  nor  bank 
—  he  has  bars  upon  his  shoulders.  A  military 
cousin  to  adore,  and  a  Presidio  to  visit  has  timed 
his  life's  reveille. 

When,  after  a  score  of  years,  Ross  and  Her- 
bert Kenyon  came  to  realize  that  to  express  a 
wisht  was  to  find  it  unexpectedly  obtained  for 
them  by  the  wife  and  mother,  Lillian  Kenyon, 
they  began  to  grow  considerate  in  their  audible 
longings.  If  they  had  ever  spoken  words  to  her 
that  left  a  hurt  they  had  long  since  ceased  to 
do  so,  and  the  sunset  of  life  had  grown  so  satis- 
fying that  she  cried  through  happy  tears :  "  O 
Sun,  do  not  set !  " 

On  Mrs.  Miller's  left  are  newer  and  younger 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  137 

acquaintances.  The  Thompsons  had  from  the 
first  been  congenial,  both  to  herself  and  to  Lillian 
Kenyon,  though  the  children  were  too  young  to 
be  companionable  with  their  own  grown-up 
progeny.  Up  the  side  of  the  house  of  the  newer 
neighbors  struggles  a  fuchsia,  whose  one  am- 
bition is  to  peer  into  the  chamber  window  of 
a  maiden  —  Susie  by  name.  Each  morning  the 
maiden  throws  open  her  window,  to  smile  down 
upon  it,  after  which  it  twists  and  clambers 
afresh. 

It  is  Friday  morning  in  the  wistaria-draped 

house.     An   extra  cook   reinforces   the  kitchen. 

The  only  daughter  inspects  tree,  bush  and  bloom. 

"  Muddie,  what  flowers  would  you  choose  for 

the  individual  bouquets?" 

"  I'm    not    choosing,"    smiled    Agnes    Miller, 
"  this  is  the  reign  of  Philip  and  Mary." 
"  Well,  then,  I'll  wait  till  Philip  comes." 
When   Philip   came,    the   flower   question    re- 
vived. 

"  Let's  use  the  flower  language,"  suggested  he, 
"  and  place  the  bouquets  according  to  the  message 
we  wish  them  to  convey." 

"  Philip !  What  a  gorgeous  idea !  " 
"  Mary !  What  stunning  diction !  " 
Jeopardized  are  the  lives  of  tender  plants; 


138  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

disunited,  friendly  boughs,  forever  separated, 
dear  couplets  of  flowers. 

The  great,  unsociable,  company  dining-room 
is  dusted;  Philip  hangs  wreaths;  Mary  fills 
vases. 

Friday  night,  in  the  reign  of  Philip  and  Mary, 
arrived.  A  party  also  arrived  —  just  a  neigh- 
borhood party.  Good  looking  people !  the  cam- 
era declared,  for  Mary  "  snapped  "  them  all. 

Ross  Kenyon:  full  head  of  white  hair,  black 
eyes. 

Lillian  Kenyon :  gray  haired,  bright  eyed. 

Lieutenant  Herbert  Kenyon :  six  feet  and  a 
uniform. 

Merritt  Thompson:  head  of  a  Greek  god; 
clothed,  befitting  a  prince. 

Ida  Thompson :  brown  haired,  mild  eyed. 

Frank  Thompson :  thirteen  and  vigilant. 

Miss  Susie :  nine  and  plump. 

Judge  Earle :  bald ;  no  wedding  bells  for  him. 

Dr.  Hamilton:  widower,  big  and  blond. 

Charles  Miller:  thin,  white  haired,  keen  eyed. 

Agnes  Miller :  silver  threads  among  the  gold. 

Robert  Miller:  first  born,  twenty-four  years, 
black  eyes,  black  hair. 

Philip  Norder:  twenty-three,  adopted  son. 

Arthur  Miller :  fifteen,  the  baby. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  139 

Mary  Miller :  pointing  the  camera ;  gentle  and 
gay,  twenty-one  years. 

At  one  end  of  the  table,  Agnes  Miller;  at  the 
opposite,  her  husband  —  of  the  discerning  eyes. 

When  the  courses  had  come  and  gone,  and 
come  and  gone  again,  Agnes  Miller  spoke  a 
word :  "  Dear  friends,  we  have  gathered  as 
now  many  times,  just  neighbors,  but  I  never  had 
so  glad  a  word  to  say  as  to-night,  when  I  can 
announce  the  coming  marriage  of  our  daughter 
and  Lieutenant-  Herbert  Kenyon,  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  day  of  this  month,  in  our  daughter's 
home,  to  which  we  most  lovingly  invite  you." 

"  Hear  ye!     Hear  ye!  "  cried  Robert. 

"  Thus  it  is  our  daughters  leave  us 
Those  we  love  and  those  who  love  us  " 

quoted  Charles  Miller  teasingly,  yet  wistfully. 

Agnes  Miller  spoke  again :  "  The  night  is 
filled  with  gladness.  To-day  our  beloved  son, 
Philip  Norder,  has  opened  offices  whose  doors 
bear  the  inscription : 

"  '  Philip  Norder,  Attorney-at-Law.'  " 

"  Never  forget,  Philip,  that  when  men  be- 
come angels,  lawyers  will  starve,"  from  Judge 
Earle. 

"  Tell  us,  Philip,  what  kind  of  law  breaking 


140  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

will  best  give  you  a  start  and  Rob  and  I  will 
enter  upon  it  at  once,"  volunteered  Lieutenant 
Kenyon. 

As  they  dallied  with  fruits  and  ices,  Mrs. 
Miller  directed  attention  to  the  place  flowers  and 
beginning  with  her  own,  wistaria,  interpreted 
it:  "A  cordial  welcome."  Her  husband  held 
up  a  full-blown  rose,  looking  helplessly  from  one 
to  another. 

Mary  tame  to  the  rescue.  "  That  means  '  en- 
gagement,' you  know  you  have  so  many  engage- 
ments, we  can  hardly  ever  get  you  for  an  evening 
at  the  theatre.  We  are  very  lucky  to  have  caged 
you  for  to-night." 

"  I  should  never  have  suspected  it  of  you, 
Miller,"  from  Ross  Kenyon. 

"  Judge,  what  does  your  flower  say  ?  " 

He  scrutinized  it.  "  It's  from  the  lemon,  I 
think,  but  my  law  library  does  not  instruct  on 
cases  botanical." 

"  Then  the  interpreters  must  be  called  in. 
Philip!  Mary!" 

"  It  means  discretion,  Judge,"  announced 
Philip,  "  you  have  been  exceedingly  discreet  re- 
garding marriage." 

The  Judge  nearly  blushed  and  everybody  else 
quite  laughed. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  141 

"  You  are  next,  Mr.  Kenyon." 

"  Can't  even  tell  the  flower,  let  alone  giving  in- 
formation on  its  conversation." 

"  It's  persimmon,  Mr.  Kenyon,"  assisted  Mary, 
"  and  says,  '  I'll  surprise  you  by  and  by  ' ;  the 
trip  in  the  aeroplane  that  you  have  set  your  heart 
on,  don't  you  see?  " 

"  Don't,  don't  suggest  aeroplanes  to  him," 
begged  Lillian  Kenyon. 

"  Doctor  Hamilton?" 

"  I  hold  a  holly,  but  my  knowledge  ends  with 
that  statement." 

"Holly  asks,  'Am  I  forgotten?  Why  five 
years  a  widower  ? '  "  queried  Philip. 

The  doctor  laughed  a  jolly  laugh. 

"  Mr.  Thompson  ?  " 

"  I  have  a  small  fig  and  leaf,  will  Miss  Mary 
please  translate?" 

"  It  announces,  '  I  keep  my  secrets,'  "  com- 
plied Mary.  "  Secrecy  is  a  prime  requisite  of  a 
dealer  in  real  estate." 

"  Lillian,"  spoke  the  hostess. 

"  Pink  carnation,  but  I  have  forgotten  my 
school-girl  lore." 

"Woman's  love,"   Mary  aided. 

"Why  do  I  get  a  withered  flower?"  com- 
plained Philip. 


142  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"It's  a  withered  white  rose  isn't  it?"  asked 
Mary. 

"  Yes,"  he  answered. 

"  That  reads,  '  I  am  in  despair.'  " 

Everybody  roared,  for  everybody  knew  how 
a  pink-cheeked  girl  had  been  sent  to  Europe  to 
prevent  a  too  early  marriage. 

Philip  bore  the  hilarity  as  well  as  he  could, 
which  means  that  his  lips  smiled  while  his  feet 
longed  to  run. 

"  Next !  "  Robert's  mother  called  to  her  first 
born. 

"  Syringa,"  he  called  back,  "  but  I  left  my  spec- 
tacles in  my  room." 

"  You  shall  be  happy  yet,"  expounded  Philip, 
"  although  sweet  love  has  passed  you  by  thus  far ; 
while  there's  life  there's  hope." 

"  That's  cheering,"  returned  Robert. 

"  Oh,  Mrs.  Thompson,  pardon  me,  you've  very 
nearly  been  left  out." 

"  Blue  violet,  but  I  plead  ignorance." 

"  Faithfulness,"  defined  Mary. 

"  Now  to  the  nursery,"  teased  Robert,  as  his 
mother  called  for  Susie's  flower. 

"  It's  a  daisy,"  she  returned  promptly. 

"  And  means  '  Innocence/  "  explained  Mary. 

"  Frank  Thompson." 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  143 

"  Don't  know  what  it  is,"  in  a  don't-care  tone. 

"  It's  candy  tuft  and  '  Indifference/  "  spoke 
Philip,  *'  a  condition  of  heart  accompanying 
youths  of  your  age,  for  an  infinitesimally  short 
period  of  time." 

"  Arthur,"  to  her  baby. 

"  I  haven't  any  flower,"  flushing. 

"  Well,  I  gave  you  one,"  returned  his  sister. 

"  You  did  not,"  warmly. 

A  tender,  reproving  look  from  his  mother. 

"  She  gave  me  a  lettuce  leaf,  mother,"  holding 
it  up. 

"  And  that  says  '  A  cold  heart,'  "  exulted  his 
sister. 

"  True,  true,"  nagged  Robert ;  "  there's  the  girl 
with  the  Sis  Hopkins  braids,  and  the  girl  with 
the  Gibson  neck,  and  the  little  girl,  with  the  little 
curl  right  in  the  middle  of  her  forehead,  all 
throwing  goo-goo  eyes  at  him  and  if  he  sees  one 
of  them  anywhere,  straightway  he  searches  the 
sky  for  comets.  And  what  have  you,  Miss 
Mary  ?  "  continued  the  tormenting  Robert,  "  and 
you,  Lieutenant  Kenyon  ?  Methinks  your  flowers 
are  identical.  This  is  mystery,  indeed." 

Mary  colored.     The  lieutenant  laughed. 

"  Hold  them  up,"  commanded  the  brutal  Rob- 
ert. Only  the  Lieutenant  obeyed. 


144  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"  Oh,  bridal  roses.  No  need  for  schooling  on 
that,  no  call  to  utter  its  speech,"  quoth  the  un- 
quenchable big  brother. 

"  But  it  has  a  tongue  and  says  '  Happy  love,'  " 
interposed  Philip. 

"Of  course,"  spoke  on  Robert,  "  what  else  do 
wedding  bells  ever  bring?  " 

"  Miss  Mary,  I  would  fain  suggest  that  you 
pin  these  sweet-voiced  flowers  on  the  gentlemen, 
while  Philip  does  like  duty  for  the  ladies,"  said 
Mr.  Thompson. 

"  Thompson  always  scores,"  declared  Dr. 
Hamilton. 

Mary  and  Philip  did  as  requested.  When 
Mary  reached  Herbert  Kenyon,  eyes  spoke  to 
eyes. 

"  Oh,  hurry,  sweet  day,"  said  his. 

"  I  fear  it  —  a  little,"  from  hers. 

When  at  last  the  flowers  were  secured  to  each 
one  Mr.  Thompson  scored  again: 

"  Let  us  drink  to  the  maker  of  the  feast  — 
Our  Lady  Bountiful." 

And  so  it  was. 

"  And  now  to  the  bride  and  groom,"  added 
Judge  Earle,  offering 

"To  the  bachelor  who  is  always  free! 
To  the  husband  who  sometimes  may  be." 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  145 

Philip  gave: 

Let  love  be  your  lawyer,  dear, 

To  him  your  case  report; 
Till  both  shall  need  my  service  dear, 

In  some  divorce  court. 

"  To  wish  you  well,  were  to  wish  myself  ill," 
complained  Dr.  Hamilton. 

"You  may  write  it  on  his  tombstone; 
You  may  cut  it  on  his  card, 
That  a  young  man  married 
Is  a  young  man  marred." 

quoted  Robert. 

"  Jealousy,"   pronounced  Lieutenant   Kenyon. 

Mr.  Thompson  had,  unobserved,  taken  out  his 
note-book  and  written  a  few  lines  which  he 
passed  on  to  Mary;  then  he  called  out:  "  From 
the  bride  to  the  groom!" 

Mary  read  from  the  quotation  he  had  given 
her: 

"  Let's  be  gay,  while  we  may, 

And  seize  love  with  laughter ; 
I'll  be  true  as  long  as  you, 
And  not  a  minute  after." 

"  From  the  groom  to  the  bride,  now,"  called 
Mr.  Thompson. 

Lieutenant  Kenyon  rose.  The  other  toasts 
had  been  given  in  conversational  tones  and  with 


146  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

tinkling  mirth.     His  voice  thrilled  with  feeling. 
He  fixed  his  eyes  on  Mary  and  gave : 

"  I  have  known  many, 
Liked  a  few, 
Loved  one 
Here's  to  you," 

bowed  and  touched  his  glass  to  his  lips. 


VI 


Saturday  morning  came  to  Wistaria  House  — 
and  other  places.  Office  and  store  claimed  the 
men  of  the  neighborhood  party  of  the  previous 
night;  home  and  social  duties  occupied  the 
women  of  that  party. 

Saturday  night  came  to  the  Rose  Door  —  and 
other  places.  .  The  Rose  Door  was  a  house.  It 
was  so  named  by  its  visitors  from  a  small  carv- 
ing above  the  front  entrance  of  a  full-blown  rose 
with  an  upright  leaf  on  either  side,  and  a  bud  be- 
low, also  upright. 

"  Ladies !  "  she  called,  with  the  sliding  rising 
inflection. 

Down  the  stairs  they  rustled ;  blonde,  bru- 
nette, the  plump,  the  ethereal.  Take  your  pick. 

Robert  Miller  stepped  up  to  a  girl  called  Anna, 
and  as  the  piano  played,  Lieutenant  Kenyon 
crossed  over  to  one,  Rebecca  by  name.  With 
arms  around  waists,  they  ascended  the  stairs. 

A  little  later  hilarious  singing  came  from  a 
room :  "  Oh,  you'll  be  the  peaches,  and  I'll 
be—" 

147 


148  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"  Sh !  Herb,  the  police !  "  silenced  Rebecca. 

In  another  room.  "  Where  did  you  get  this 
bracelet,  Anna  ?  " 

"  A  friend  brought  it  to  me  from  Hawaii ;  it 
was  his  great-grandmother's.  Don't  take  it  off, 
Robert !  " 

"Why   not?" 

"  Well,  I  put  it  on  to  cover  up  a  bruise." 

"  Let's  see,  I'll  diagnose  the  case." 

The  girl  laughed  and  pulled  her  arm  loose 
from  his  grasp. 

"  You  needn't  laugh.  I  studied  medicine  for 
a  year  once,  when  I  had  caught  the  professional 
fever,"  and  he  renewed  his  hold  on  her  arm. 
She  struggled,  but  he  pulled  off  the  bracelet  and 
studied  the  hurt. 

"  All  it  needs,  is  to  be  opened ;  get  me  a  needle," 
ordered  the  doctor. 

The  patient  complied,  and  he  pricked  it  several 
times. 

"  Nothing  doing,"  was  his  dictum  and  he  gave 
back  the  needle. 

The  prophesied  Twenty-Seventh  arrived  one 
morning  at  Dr.  Hamilton's  office ;  in  the  evening 
it  will  have  reached  Wistaria  House  —  the 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  149 

Twenty-Seventh  foretold  at  the  neighborhood 
party. 

Among  the  large  number  always  waiting  in 
Dr.  Hamilton's  reception  room  sat  a  woman  in  a 
dark,  tailored  suit,  like  many  another  there ;  and 
veiled,  as  were  others.  In  her  turn,  she  entered 
the  private  office. 

"What's  the  trouble  this  time,  Anna?" 

"  I  don't  know  myself,  but  I'll  show  you,"  and 
she  bared  her  arm. 

When  his  last  patient  had  left  and  his  office 
door  been  locked,  Dr.  Hamilton  reached  for 
paper  and  pen  to  write  a  letter,  although  he 
would  be  hurried  to  make  his  professional  calls 
and  dress  and  reach  Wistaria  House  by  six 
o'clock.  It  was  a  letter  of  many  pages,  well 
sprinkled  with  interrogation  points. 

The  wistarias  were  all  in  the  shade  when  Dr. 
Hamilton  passed  beneath  them.  Not  because  it 
was  dark,  for  never  had  they  been  so  deluged 
with  light.  Festoons  of  electric  globules,  three 
deep,  wound  about  the  verandas ;  every  palm  and 
pepper  was  a  mighty  Christmas  tree,  a-glitter 
from  top  to  bottom.  Out  in  space  hung  balls  of 
light,  suspended  from  nothing.  From  house  to 
waiting  automobiles  a  roadway  of  roses  made  soft 


150  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

stepping.  A  flood  tide  of  brightness  swept  from 
basement  to  attic. 

The  great  unsociable  dining-room  is  all  too 
small.  Again  flowers  wreathe  the  walls,  fill 
vases  and  lie  by  the  plates.  The  choicest  of 
fruit  and  fowl  await  the  order  of  the  chef.  In 
the  conservatory  an  orchestra  bides  the  signal 
of  their  leader,  who  in  turn  watches  tensely 
through  the  doorway.  She  comes!  His  hand 
upraises.  Half  a  hundred  strings  thrill  out: 
"  Hail  to  the  Bride !  " 

Again  glad  words  and  happy  replies,  around  a 
prodigal  table,  through  all  of  which  the  orchestra 
sings  in  whispers. 

Deserted  is  the  table  at  last;  hand  shaking, 
kissing  and  good-byes  follow.  Down  the  rose 
road  walks  a  man  in  uniform  leading  the  daugh- 
ter—  the  only  daughter  of  the  house. 

"  So  long,  Mary,"  calls  her  big  brother. 

A  shower  of  rice  from  Philip;  a  wave  of  hand 
from  the  father;  a  flutter  of  handkerchief  by  the 
mother.  The  machine  is  out  of  sight. 

Another  night  came  to  the  Rose  Door.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  nights  never  failed  to  come  to  that 
Public  Benefit ;  had  the  calamity  of  an  immortal 
day  fallen  on  that  tollbooth  its  commanding  buc- 


ANOTHER   NIGHT  CAME 


TO  THE  ROSE  DOOR — Page  150. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  151 

cancer  would  have  wirelessed  Mars  to  put  out  the 
sun.  Nights  were  indispensable  to  the  Rose 
Door. 

Two  girls  were  holding  a  conversation  —  were 
they?  The  dictionary  defines  "conversation" 
as  "  an  interchange  of  ideas." 

"  You  make  me  tired,  Mary  Sullivan,  honest 
to  God  you  do,  standing  up  for  folks  that  don't 
lift  a  ringer  for  you.  Here  we  are  and  here  we 
have  always  got  to  stay ;  but  the  men  in  the  biz 
with  us,  can  leave  it  and  get  to  be  mayor  or  sen- 
ator or  preacher.  Oh,  the  preachers !  We  here, 
and  they  sitting  with  their  bellies  full,  studying 
their  Sunday  lesson,  '  Whatever  is,  is  right.' 
Ugh,  to  hell  with  them  —  my  Rabbi  and  your 
Priest !  " 

"  But  maybe,  Rebecca  — " 

"  Oh,  shut  up  with  your  '  maybes.'  Maybe 
they  are  tearing  their  hair  out  because  we  are 
sick  to  the  death  of  this  life.  Maybe  they  walk  the 
floor  all  night  because  we  can't  get  out  and  make 
a  living  another  way,  any  more  than  a  fly  that  is 
pulling  itself  in  two  on  sticky  fly  paper,  can  ever 
get  off  it.  Didn't  you  try?  Didn't  I  try?  Did 
you  ever  hear  of  a  preacher  going  insane  thinking 
about  our  case  ?  A  prize  fight  makes  them  nutty, 
but  us — " 


152  THE  ROSE  EK  X.)R 

"  Still,  Rebecca,  maybe  — " 

"  Yes,  maybe  they'll  pull  down  the^e  walls  to- 
night, like  the  French  people  did  to  that  prison 
and  maybe  they'll  just  go  to  bed  and  sleep,"  and 
Rebecca  removed  her  cigarette,  to  spit  straight 
out  into  their  faces,  while  Mary  Sullivan  gave 
up  and  went  out  of  the  room. 

The  wise  business  man  smiles  in  business 
hours.  The  customer  has  troubles,  certainly, 
but  the  seller  of  goods  has  none. 

"  I  heard  you  got  married,  Herb." 

"Who  told  you?" 

"  Oh,  a  little  bird.  I  didn't  think  I'd  see  Lieu- 
tenant Kenyon  any  more." 

"  A  man  can't  give  up  all  his  friends  just  be- 
cause he  gets  married,  Rebecca." 

Rebecca  hummed : 

"  There's  no  place  like  home,  dear, 
But  I'm  afraid  to  come  home  in  the  dark." 


VII 

Another  twenty-seventh  arrived.  The  very 
next  twenty-seventh  to  the  great  twenty-seventh 
when  the  wistaria  gave  forth  electric  blossoms; 
when  moon  and  stars  came  down  to  twinkle  in 
tall  trees;  when  ten  thousand  roses  gave  their 
soft  bodies  to  the  dainty  tread  of  a  maiden. 
Such  a  twenty-seventh  would  never  come  again 
—  so  said  the  servants  of  Wistaria  House. 

On  the  second  twenty-seventh,  Dr.  Hamilton 
sits  looking  over  his  mail.  One  letter  he  retains,* 
pushing  the  others  unopened  aside.  The  en- 
velope is  postmarked,  "  Hilo,  Hawaii."  He 
opens  it  hurriedly  —  he  reads  it  eagerly: 

"  Your  letter  to  the  Postmaster  at  Honolulu,  was  for- 
warded to  me  for  an  answer. 

".Ralph  Youne  returned  home  one  month  before  the 
close  of  "his  second  year  at  Berkeley.  He  went  direct  from 
the  steamer  to  his  Honolulu  house  and  sent  immediately 
for  his  father.  The  moment  he  appeared,  Ralph  retreated 
a  step  and  uttered  the  word  most  hated  in  all  the  land  of 
Kamehameha.  But  Albert  Young  went  straight  to  him  and 
winding  both  arms  about  him  said :  '  That  is  a  sorry  jest, 
Laddie.' 

153 


154  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"When  Ralph  had  said  his  say  his  father  termed  the 
San  Francisco  doctors,  '  a  pack  of  idiots '  and  sent  post 
haste  for  me.  I  was  in  Honolulu  and  went  at  once. 

"It  was  an  attendant  at  the  Turkish  baths  —  himself  » 
Hawaiian  —  who  called  Ralph's  attention  to  his  body  and 
in  a  significant  tone  advised  him  to  see  a  doctor  at  once. 

"  Ralph  stripped  for  me ;  it  was  all  under  his  clothes. 
When  Albert  Young  saw,  his  face  took  on  the  look  of  • 
fallen  gladiator,  when  thumbs  are  down. 

" '  Yes '  or  '  No,'  doctor,  he  said,  with  a  brave  attempt  at 
courage. 

"  My  tongue  wouldn't  say  it.  I  nodded  my  head.  He 
began  to  shiver;  then  he  strangled  and  would  have  gone 
to  the  floor,  but  that  Ralph  and  I  took  hold  of  him.  I 
thought  he  was  dying  then  and  there  —  if  he  only  had 
been.  Of  all  cruel  things  there's  nothing  to  compare  with 
living. 

"  We  seated  him.  He  never  stood  again.  He  rallied, 
however,  and  cried,  '  My  boy,  my  boy,  my  boy !  '  Then 
there  was  swaying  and  inarticulate  moaning,  followed  by 
an  attempt  to  rise;  but  he  could  not. 

" '  Come  to  your  father,  L^ddie^  his  old  legs  have  turned 
traitors,'  he  said. 

"  Ralph  went  to  him.  His  father  drew  him  down  on 
his  lap  and  putting  his  arms  about  him,  pressed  Ralph's 
face  against  his  own,  as  he  had  done  eighteen  years  before, 
when  the  nurse  laid  a  soft,  little  bundle  in  his  arms,  say- 
ing, '  Herejs  your  son.' 

"  Presently  Ralpli~felt  the  encircling  arms  relax  and  he 
arose. 

"A  tremor  rippled  over  Albert  Young  followed  by  an 
ague  that  threw  his  hands  off  the  arms  of  the  big  chair  and 
made  his  feet  dance  upon  the  floor.  This  passed  and  his 
voice  returned.  '  My  boy,  my  Laddie,  my  little,  little  Lad- 
die ! '  Then  quiet. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  155 

"  He  was  far  back,  sitting  in  the  lap  of  existence,  play- 
ing with  a  beautiful  man  child  —  back  where  Life  made 
fair  promises  and  where  no  man  might  call  her  '  liar ' 
without  being  laid  low  by  the  eloquence  of  his  enraptured, 
believing  heart. 

"  This  passed.  He  raised  his  voice ;  Doctor,  you  are  a 
surgeon;  can't  you  do  anything.  Cut  them  out.  Cut  them 
out!' 

"  Then,  as  though  he  knew  he  spoke  folly,  he  dropped 
his  face  in  his  hands,  and  moaned  and  swayed  and  swayed 
and  moaned. 

"  Then  another  arousing :  '  But  Molokai  shan't  get  you, 
Laddie !  We'll  hide  you  where  devils  and  a  pack  of  blood 
hounds  couldn't  find  you.  We'll  go  to  Hilo  Bay  —  Mauna 
Loa  is  long  and  Mauna  Loa  is  high.  You  won't  be  alone, 
Laddie.  Your  father  will  be  with  you  all  the  time,  and 
Joe  will  come  too,  to  take  care  of  you.' 

"  He  paused  to  ponder  some  other  thought. 

"  In  a  lowered  voice :  '  And,  Laddie,  there  will  always 
be  a  bright  piece  of  steel  close  to  your  hand,  and  when  the 
sight  has  grown  intolerable,  you  can  —  erase  it.' 

"Then  around  the  cycle  again  —  moaning,  ague,  raving, 
quiet. 

"  In  one  of  his  quiet  periods,  Ralph  spoke :  '  Daddie, 
there's  someone  worse  off  than  I.  Someone  without 
either  parent;  who  is  in  utter  poverty.  One  who  had  not 
a  friend  in  the  world,  till  I  came  to  her.' 

"  The  word  '  her '  caught  Albert  Young's  attention  and 
held  it  for  a  second. 

" '  Was  she  good  to  you  ?  '  he  asked  eagerly. 

" '  We  loved  each  other,'  answered  Ralph. 

' '  Yes,  but  was  she  good  to  you,  or  was  she  after  your 
money  ? '  he  repeated. 

" '  She  asked  nothing  and  gave  all  that  a  woman  can 
give  to  a  man,'  said  Ralph. 


156  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

" '  Then,  by  God !  though  she  be  a  Chinatown  harlot  she 
shall  be  the  richest  woman  in  San  Francisco ! '  he  shouted. 

"  The  next  minute  he  wilted,  as  a  plant  wilts  in  an  un- 
moist,  withering  heat. 

"  I  never  saw  a  well  man  die  so  fast.  He  crumpled  up 
like  a  slug  thrust  on  to  a  fish  hook.  In  four  days  he 
was  gone.  They  said  he  would  not  eat.  He  could  not 
perceive  food.  He  was  a  disembodied  spirit  from  the  mo- 
ment he  read  my  verdict. 

"Ralph  died  two  years  back  —  thank  God!  But  Mo- 
lokai  got  him." 


VIII 

Four  days  later,  a  happy  woman  in  a  love-filled 
home  sat  studying  her  own  name  upon  an  un- 
opened envelope.  The  writing  was  unfamiliar, 
so  she  inspected  postmark  and  date  for  knowledge 
of  the  author,  instead  of  reading  the  letter  at  once 
as  a  man  would  have  done  —  so  they  say.  After 
breaking  the  covering,  she  turned  to  the  signa- 
ture, but  that  was  equally  unknown.  Then  she 
began  at  the  beginning: 

"Dear  Mrs.  Miller:  — 

"  Maybe  you  won't  remember  me,  but  I  have  never  for- 
gotten your  kind  eyes  and  .Mark's  lovely  playthings.  Miss 
Duncan  once  took  me  to  visit  you.  I  am  the  girl  to  whom 
Mary  showed  her  dolls.  I  am  writing  you  because  I  must 
tell  you  something.  It  will  give  you  sorrow,  but  I  have 
to  tell  you. 

"  Something  so  beautiful  has  just  happened  to  me,  that 
I  am  all  the  more  sorry  to  make  you  sad.  It  is  a  letter 
that  has  made  me  so  glad ;  while  this  letter  will  give  you 
pain. 

"  My  letter  was  not  written  to  me,  but  to  my  doctor, 
though  it  was  all  about  one  who  loved  me  and  whom  I 
loved. 

"  I  will  have  to  tell  you  quite  a  long  story  to  show  you 

157 


158  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

why  I  ought  to  write  to  you  before  I  go  away  forever  — 
for  to-morrow  I  am  going  to  a  place  I  shall  never  leave. 

"  Two  years  after  Miss  Duncan  took  me  to  see  you  and 
Mary's  wonderful  dolls,  I  met  a  Prince  in  Golden  Gate 
Park.  I  did  not  know  then  that  he  was  a  Prince,  but  I 
know  now.  When  it  grew  dark  I  was  afraid  and  I  cried, 
because  I  had  no  place  to  go.  Then  he  took  my  hand  and 
led  me  to  a  Palace.  It  was  only  one  room,  but  now  I 
know  that  it  was  a  palace. 

"  Every  day  he  took  me  on  a  trip  to  Fairyland.  He 
called  it  tennis,  theatre,  lying  on  the  beach  sands,  and 
many  other  happinesses.  Hand  in  hand  —  always  hand  in 
hand  —  we  sang  and  played  all  the  days  through,  for  two 
years.  Then  one  day,  the  Prince  turned  into  a  spirit,  and 
I  couldn't  see  him  any  more,  or  hear  his  voice,  or  feel 
him  with  my  hands.  He  didn't  get  sick,  or  die,  or  say 
good-bye!  Just  one  day,  I  couldn't  find  him.  He  had 
given  me  beautiful  clothes,  and  we  dined  to  sweet  music, 
but  after  I  had  called  and  called  to  him,  I  grew  hungry, 
for  there  was  nothing  ui  the  Palace  to  eat.  Then  piece 
by  piece,  I  gave  all  the  pretty  things  in  the  Palace  for 
food.  After  awhile  the  food  was  all  eaten  and  I  got 
hungry  again  and  then  hungrier  and  hungrier. 

"  At  last  I  knew  that  he  could  not  hear  me,  so  I  went 
away.  I  wanted  to  die.  My  heart  ached  so  much  that  at 
last  it  couldn't  feel  at  all. 

"  I  wandered  about  till  one  day  I  came  to  a  place  where 
I  thought  I  would  res?  for  awhile  and  then  go  on.  But 
I  never  left  it.  No  one  can  leave  it.  In  this  place  it  was 
as  dark  as  the  Palace  had  been  light.  It  was  filled  with 
men  who  cared  only  to  be  naked  and  indecent.  I  tried 
to  hide  in  a  corner,  but  they  pulled  me  out  and  laughed  at 
me.  They  said  I  would  get  used  to  it,  but  I  never  did. 
Drink  and  drug  helped  a  good  deal,  for  they  blurred  my 
eyes  and  I  was  glad  of  that. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  159 

"  Dear  Mrs.  Miller  even  you  could  not  live  this  kind  of 
life  without  drink  and  drug." 

Agnes  Miller  shivered  and  then  blood-red, 
there  danced  across  the  page :  "  I  am  the  girl  to 
whom  Mary  showed  her  dolls." 

"  For  three  days  I  have  left  drink  and  drug  alone,  so 
that  my  head  might  be  clear  enough  to  write  to  you  — 
you  can't  know  how  hard  it  has  been  to  go  without  them. 

"  Because  I  couldn't  get  used  to  the  men,  an  awful 
thing  happened  to  me.  My  doctor  calls  it  '  hallucination.' 
I  will  describe  it  to  you.  If  anyone  calls  my  attention  to 
a  man  on  the  street  or  any  other  place,  instantly  his 
clothes  fall  to  his  feet  and  I  see  him  naked  and  indecent. 
Once  I  stopped  to  listen  to  a  Salvation  Army  girl  talking 
to  a  crowd  of  men.  She  told  them  that  they  were  made 
in  the  image  of  God.  In  a  flash  I  saw  every  one  of  them 
standing  naked  and  indecent  before  her.  I  turned  and 
ran  down  the  street,  till  a  policeman  stopped  me  and 
asked  if  I  was  drunk  or  crazy.  It  doesn't  make  any  differ- 
ence if  it  is  a  judge  or  a  preacher;  I  can  never  see  them 
any  other  way. 

"  But,  .oh.  Mrs.  Miller !  the  Prince  went  away  to  save 
me  from  a  dreadful  disease  that  came  upon  him.  But  I 
had  already  caught  it,  though  I  did  not  know  it.  Even 
my  doctor  was  not  sure  till  he  got  a  letter  —  the  dear,  dear, 
letter  I  told  you  of  from  a  far-off  country  telling  of  the 
death  of  my  Prince.  If  only  I  could  have  gone  with  him ! 
To  live  while  he  lived;  to  die  when  he  died.  If  only  he 
had  told  me. 

"  But  now  the  second  beautiful  thing  has  come  into  my 
life.  I  am  to  go  where  I  can  rest,  rest,  rest!  Where  I 
can  dream  all  over  again  the  two  joyous  years  in  the  Pal- 
ace. To-morrow  night  they  will  take  me  to  a  leprosarium ! 


160  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Do  not  be  afraid  dear  Mrs.  Miller,  for  a  friend  has  prom- 
ised to  copy  this  letter  on  to  paper  I  have  not  touched." 

Again  a  shivering  seized  Mrs.  Miller;  again 
a  scarlet  line  shot  across  the  page  — "  I  am  the 
girl  to  whom  Mary  showed  her  dolls." 

"  And  now  —  I  don't  know  how  to  tell  you  —  but  I 
want  to  save  your  other  son  and  Mary.  Robert  has  been 
my  friend  for  two  years  and  has  visited  me  often.  Don't 
feel  too  bad  because  he  came,  for  every  man  comes  to  my 
kind  — " 

Under  Mrs.  Miller's  staring  eyes,  a  thousand- 
legged  worm  straggled  on  to  the  paper.  All  its 
legs  curled  into  wriggling  letters,  and  the  letters 
crawled  apart,  into  writhing  words;  the  words 
heaved  and  fell  to  the  line :  "  And  directly,  or 
through  those  we  love,  in  unavailing  travail  we 
shall  learn  the  truth !  "  And  the  closing  punctua- 
tion was  a  face  —  the  face  of  Alice  Duncan. 

"  You  need  not  tell  Robert,  and  he  can  be  just  as  happy 
as  ever  till  it  does  come,  and  maybe  it  will  never  come. 
But  you  can  keep  watch. 

"  Good-bye,  dear  Mrs.  Miller,  good-bye,  forever !  " 

Mrs.  Miller's  chin  tipped  forward  onto  her 
chest. 


IX 

On  the  same  day  Lillian  Kenyon  also  received 
a  letter.  She,  too,  sought  the  signature  before 
reading  it  —  but  there  was  none: 

"  Don't  tear  up  this  letter  till  you  read  it  all,  for  I  will 
tell  you  how  to  find  out  if  it  is  the  truth  or  a  lie. 

"  Your  husband  has  been  keeping  a  woman  at  the  Poin- 
settia  Apartments,  for  five  years.  Go  there  and  find  out 
for  yourself.  They  say  she  is  only  twenty-two  and  a 
beaut.  If  you  want  to  get  a  hunch  on,  I'll  put  you  wise. 
Keep  away  from  the  house  detective,  he  is  your  husband's 
watch  dog  —  not  your  blood  hound.  And  don't  monkey 
with  the  elevator  boy;  he  will  be  true  to  your  husband's 
tips ;  but  make  a  pal  of  the  janitor  with  some  little  yellow 
boys  and  he  will  get  the  number  of  his  suite  for  you.  I 
can  tell  you  some  more.  Your  hubbie  kept  another 
woman  for  four  years  before  this  one,  but  she  got  to 
drinking  too  much  to  suit  him,  so  he  threw  her  down.  Men 
like  to  have  us  hog  it  with  them,  but  they  want  us  to 
keep  straight  all  the  rest  of  the  time.  I'll  tell  you  why  I 
am  helping  you  to  spot  him  —  because  it  will  spoil  your 
life.  Because  it  will  break  your  heart  as  a  man  once 
broke  mine.  Because  you  wouldn't  touch  me  with  a  ten- 
foot  pole  —  Herb  uses  a  shorter  one. 

"  You  and  your  new  daughter  sit  in  your  fine  house  with 
servants  to  wait  on  you  and  don't  give  a  cuss  if  I  rot  here, 
and  I  don't  give  one  if  this  letter  makes  you  bug  house  — 
/  hope  it  will! 

161 


162  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"  When  your  son,  Herbie,  puts  the  police  on  my  track 
and  they  break  in  my  door  to  break  my  bones,  they'll  find 
me  sucking  on  a  gas  tube  like  a  sleeping  baby  with  its 
bottle.  See?  But  if  I  were  you  I  wouldn't  snitch  —  go  to 
the  Poinsettia  Apartments.  Now,  good-bye,  and  I  hope 
you  and  your  new  daughter  will  die  hating  life  as  much 
as  I  do.  Ha,  ha,  ladies !  " 

Lillian  Kenyon  clenched  her  hands.  "  It  is  an 
infamous  slander!  "  then  she  got  up  and  walked 
the  floor.  "It's  an  abominable  lie!"  she  paced 
faster.  "The  miserable  wanton!"  she  crushed 
the  letter  into  a  million  wrinkles.  Then  she  sat 
down  and  burst  into  tears.  That  meant :  "  If  it 
should  be  true !  " 

She  got  up  and  walked  the  floor  again.  "  But 
it  couldn't  be!"  She  continued  to  walk. 

If  a  lifetime  devoted  to  husband  and  son  had 
not  trained  her  to  do  what  their  happiness  re- 
quired, unmindful  of  all  personal  discomfort,  the 
result  must  have  been  very  different. 

She  could  carry  to  the  grave  the  sting  in  the 
letter,  if  she  could  also  hold  absolute  trust  in  the 
two  who  made  up  her  heaven  and  earth  ;  but  to  be 
faithful  to  them  as  she  spelled  fidelity,  was  to 
prove  the  letter  a  lie  down  to  the  last  word. 

That  night  her  husband  found  a  note  on  his 
bureau  stating  that  she  had  been  called  out  of 
town  by  a  sick  friend. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  163 

Quiet  elegance  of  dress  and  subdued  voice  and 
manner  were  inseparable  from  Lillian  Kenyon. 
After  writing  the  note,  she  attired  herself  in  a 
dark  tailored  suit  and  took  a  car  for  down  town, 
where  she  entered  a  large  store.  In  an  hour  she 
came  out  wearing  a  long,  silk,  champagne-colored 
coat ;  an  extremely  large  hat  with  a  dozen  plumes 
and  a  champagne-colored  veil. 

Through  a  messenger  boy  she  made  an  appoint- 
ment with  the  janitor  of  the  Poinsettia  Apart- 
ments. They  met  at  an  obscure  restaurant,  and 
conversed  as  they  lunched. 

"  I  want  a  little  information  and  I  know  your 
time  is  valuable,"  and  she  slid  a  twenty-dollar 
gold  piece  into  his  hand. 

The  janitor  began  to  sit  up  and  take  notice. 

Were  there  any  vacant  rooms  at  the  Poinset- 
tia? 

"  A  few,"  he  stated. 

Another  twenty  dollars  touched  his  hand.  The 
janitor  gasped. 

At  the  Poinsettia,  the  house  detective  and  ele- 
vator boy  were  considered  the  valuable  men.  He 
waited  the  sequel. 

Did  a  gentleman,  whom  she  described,  have  a 
suite  there? 


164  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

In  the  language  of  Rebecca,  the  janitor  "  got  a 
hunch  on." 

He  could  find  out ;  the  housekeeper  was  a  good 
friend  of  his,  he  assured  her. 

And  would  he  take  a  slight  compensation  to 
the  housekeeper  for  her  trouble  —  another  "  yeK 
low  boy "  reached  him.  He  agreed  to  do  so. 
He  also  agreed  to  meet  the  yellow-gowned  lady 
at  the  same  hour  and  place  next  day. 

Lillian  Kenyon  slept  that  night  at  a  down-town 
hotel. 

Another  day  and  another  lunch  with  the  jani- 
tor. 

Yes,  the  gentleman  described  had  a  suite  at 
the  Poinsettia. 

Would  the  janitor  ascertain  if  the  housekeeper 
could  secure  her  rooms  on  the  same  floor? 

He  would  try. 

Another  yellow  trifle  was  laid  at  his  plate  and 
still  another  for  the  housekeeper.  Both  janitor 
and  housekeeper  narrowly  escaped  a  stroke  of 
apoplexy. 

Another  night  at  a  down-town  hotel.  Another 
day ;  another  luncheon  for  two  at  the  renownless 
cafe.  Lillian  Kenyon  spent  that  night  at  the 
Poinsettia. 

Next  day,   the  yellow-plumed  lady  visited   a 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  165 

printer.  The  second  morning  every  lady  on  the 
same  floor  with  the  yellow  lady  found  a  card  un- 
der her  door : 

HARRIET  BROWN 

SHAMPOOING  AND  MANICURING 

THREE  TREATMENTS   FREE 

and  in  pencil,  the  added  words,  Suite  404  Poin- 
settia  Apartments. 

Suite  404  was  comfortably  close  to  the  De- 
scribed Gentleman's  Suite,  as  averred  by  the  jani- 
tor and  sworn  to  by  his  good  friend  the  house- 
keeper. The  complaisant  housekeeper  did  more ; 
while  Harriet  Brown  stood  in  her  own  doorway 
the  janitor's  friend  walked  casually  down  the  cor- 
ridor and  marked,  "_D. .  G,..S*!Lon  a  certain  door; 
on  her  return,  she  felt  a  piece  of  metal  touch  her 
hand. 

On  the  very  day  of  the  card  issue  a  customer 
knocked ;  the  next  morning  three  called  for  treat- 
ment, and  the  third  day  every  hour  was  filled. 
She  was  certainly  doing  business  —  free  business. 

Invariably  Harriet  Brown  held  open  the  door 
for  each  departing  guest  and  solicitously  watched 
her  patient  out  of  sight 

On  the  fifth  day  of  Harriet's  Brown's  success, 
Ross  Kenyon  received  a  letter  stating  that  his 
wife  would  be  indefinitely  detained. 


i66  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Harriet  Brown  continued  to  shampoo,  con 
tinued  yellow  thanks  to  housekeeper  and  janitor, 
continued  to  hold  open  the  door  for  outgoing 
patrons,  continued  anxiously  to  assure  herself  of 
their  safety  within  her  range  of  vision;  but  none 
entered  the  D.  G.  S. 

At  noon,  on  the  eleventh  day  of  the  card  issue, 
she  answered  a  tap  on  her  door.  A  lady  in  a 
pink  kimono  slipped  inside,  saying,  "  I  just  got 
up,  but  I  want  a  shampoo  before  I  dress." 

Uncombed  curls  hugged  her  neck ;  dimples 
laughed  when  lips  were  still;  soft  and  merry  were 
the  eyes  and  pink  as  the  silken  robe  were  the 
cheeks  just  risen  from  a  restful  pillow. 

Curly-head  got  an  unusually  long  and  gentle 
shampoo ;  when  she  finally  slid  down  from  the 
chair,  Harriet  Brown  bowed  her  thanks  and 
courteously  held  open  the  door,  till  pink  gown 
entered  D.  G.  S. 

That  night,  as  on  previous  nights,  footsteps 
passed  suite  404  and  stopped  at  J3. .Gr-!iL_, 

That  night,  as  on  previous  nights,  Harriet 
Brown  heard  them.  She  felt  sure  of  the  dis- 
tance; she  had  measured  it  mentally  so  many 
times,  and  once  she  had  even  paced  it  off. 

In  a  week,  curly-head  came  for  another  sham- 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  167 

poo.  She  talked  a  little  this  time,  and  nearly 
went  to  sleep. 

"  You  have  so  much  magnetism,"  she  told  Har- 
riet 

On  a  third  visit  she  said,  "  I'll  never  let  an- 
other person  touch  my  head  as  long  as  you  live. 
You  are  so  gentle  and  you  never  hurry.  The 
others  hurt  and  pull  out  lots  of  hair." 

One  night,  after  footsteps  had  passed  and 
stopped  at  D.  G.  S.,  after  a  door  had  softly  opened 
and  softly  closed,  Harriet  Brown  as  quietly 
opened  her  own  door  and  stepped  to  D.  G.  S. 
She  gave  a  light  tap  upon  the  door. 

"  Who  is  it?  "  asked  a  soft  voice. 

"  It's  only  Harriet  Brown,"  was  the  reply. 

"  What  do  you  want,  Miss  Brown  ?  "  queried 
Curly. 

"  I'm  so  frightened!  May  I  speak  to  you  for 
a  moment?  "  begged  Harriet. 

The  door  was  softly  unlocked  and  opened  a 
tiny  crack. 

"  What's  the  matter,  Miss  Brown?  "  asked  the 
soft  voice. 

Harriet  stepped  close  to  the  crack.  Then  she 
pushed  vigorously  inside  and  kept  going. 

"My  God,  Lillian!" 


i68  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Speechless,  Curly  looked  from  one  to  the  other. 

"What  are  you  doing  here,  Lillian?  " 

"  What  are  you  doing  here?  "  she  counter  ques- 
tioned. 

"  Nothing  wrong,  as  you  see,"  he  replied. 

"  How  wrong  would  you  see  it  to  find  me  in  a 
man's  apartment,  under  similar  circumstances?" 

"  That  is  different,"  he  returned. 

"  From  your  point  of  view,"  she  answered. 

"  From  everyone's  point  of  view ;  even  you 
must  allow  that  there  is  some  difference  between 
the  social  liberty  of  a  man  and  a  woman." 

"  From  my  point  of  view  as  recently  attained, 
there  is  absolutely  no  difference  in  the  social  lib- 
erty of  a  man  and  a  woman,"  she  replied,  with 
colorless  lips. 

"  For  God's  sake,  let  me  take  you  home,  Lil- 
lian!" 

"  Where  is  my  home?  " 

"  Where  it  has  always  been,"  he  answered 
firmly. 

"And  where  is  your  home?" 

"  Where  it  has  always  been,"  he  replied  as 
firmly. 

"  One  roof  for  us  two  can  never  again  be  suf- 
ficient," she  said. 


'FOR  GOD'S    SAKE,   UET    ME   TAKE   YOU    HOME,   LILLIAN!" — Page    168. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  169 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Lillian  ?  You  are  beside 
yourself." 

"  I  have  just  answered  you.  Two  roofs  from 
now  till  the  sun  sets  —  may  it  soon  set." 

"  Do  you  mean  divorce?  " 

"  I  mean  divorce." 

"  You  are  making  a  mountain  out  of  a  mole 
hill.  You  have  been  happy  with  me  for  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century,  and  I  am  the  same  man  to-day 
that  I  have  always  been." 

"  I  know  that  now.  I  know  you  havt  always 
been  the  man  you  are  to-day,  but  my  education 
has  all  been  acquired  within  six  weeks." 

The  good  breeding  of  a  lifetime  held  perfect 
sway  over  voice  and  word ;  but  such  chaos  reigned 
within  her  heart  that  Lillian  Kenyon  was  fain  to 
admit  that  the  blood  running  riot  through  her 
veins  was  of  a  near  savage  ancestry,  and  as  her 
pulses  fought,  she  carried  on  a  dual  conversation 
—  one  within  and  one  with  the  man  before  her. 

"If  you  intend  to  give  no  consideration  to  the 
harm  such  publicity  would  do  my  business  inter- 
ests, or  the  injury  to  your  own  social  standing, 
will  you  try  to  remember  that  you  have  a  son 
whom  you  have  always  professed  to  hold  dearer 
than  your  own  personal  comfort?  " 


170  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"  My  son  is  a  mature  man  and  married.  He 
should  not  wish  me  to  live  an  insufferable  life  that 
his  serenity  may  not  be  disturbed.  I  am  going 
to  assume  that  he  would  not  so  wish  and  act  upon 
the  assumption." 

"  Lillian,  you  are  crazy !  " 

"  I  may  be  later,  but  just  now  I  see  clearly." 

"  To  err  is  human,  to  forgive,  divine,  Lillian !  " 

"  When  the  man  does  the  erring  and  the  woman 
the  forgiving;  but  the  other  way  around,  the 
erring  is  unpardonable." 

"  Upon  what  grounds  shall  you  ask  for  a  di- 
vorce ?  " 

"  Upon  the  truth." 

Then  while  the  conversation  within  went  on  in 
a  shrieking,  ape-like  uproar,  she  drew  herself 
together  tight  and  white :  "  And  when  the  de- 
cree is  granted,  you  owe  it  to  this  girl  —  younger 
than  your  own  child  —  to  marry  her  and  give  her 
home  and  name.  She  has  given  you  her  all,  and 
there  will  be  no  divine  forgiveness  extended  to 
her." 

Curly  looked  at  her  with  wondering  eyes. 


"  She's  from  the  Rose  Door  —  the  third  to  the 
right,"  pointed  the  matron;  "they  brought  her 
here  six  days  ago,  but  it  should  have  been  six 
months  before.  You  may  be  sure  she  has  in- 
fected more  than  one  with  tuberculosis." 

The  place  was  the  Woman's  Hospital  and  the 
listening  lady,  a  patron,  who  made  regular  visits. 

"  She's  college  bred  —  not  a  common  happen- 
ing at  the  Rose  Door,  I  take  it,"  continued  the 
matron.  "  She  is  frantic  to  get  back  home.  Of 
course,  she  would  not  live  through  the  long  jour- 
ney. Also,  of  course,  we  do  not  tell  her  so,  but 
lead  her  to  believe  that  she  will  be  taken  there  as 
soon  as  she  is  better." 

"  Where  is  her  home?  " 

"  Minnesota." 

"  Minnesota  ?  Why,  that  is  my  birth  state, 
and  oh,  I  know  how  the  longing  for  it  hurts. 
May  I  talk  to  her?" 

"  She'll  be  happy  to  -have  you  do  so,  and  ex- 
cept at  coughing  periods,  she  talks  easily." 
171 


172  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Later,  by  an  hour,  the  visiting  lady  sought  the 
matron  to  exclaim :  "  We've  got  it  all  arranged. 
She's  to  come  to  me.  I  shall  send  for  her  to- 
morrow, and  a  tent  on  our  back  lawn  will  be  ready 
for  her.  She  shall  at  least  have  Minnesotans 
near  her  for  the  short  time  she  has  to  live. 
Please  send  with  her  the  best  nurse  you  can  pro- 
cure." 

"  You  are  certainly  an  angel  of  mercy,  Mrs. 
Thompson',"  replied  the  matron.  But  Mrs. 
Thompson's  husband  viewed  the  transaction  dif- 
ferently. 

"  What  possessed  you  to  bring  her  here?  " 

"  She's  a  dying  girl,  Merritt." 

"  All  the  more  reason  for  leaving  her  at  the 
hospital." 

"  But  she  was  so  homesick  for  Minnesota." 

"  Well,  our  lawn  is  not  Minnesota." 

"  No,  but  Minnesota  is  our  native  state,  as  it  is 
hers,  and  she  is  entranced  when  I  talk  to  her  of 
the  homeland.  Surely  it  is  a  little  thing  for  us 
to  do,  and  yet  it  is  so  much  to  her.  Go  in  some- 
time, Merritt,  and  speak  to  her.  She  has  been 
beautiful." 

"Is  there  any  of  it  left?" 

"  Yes,  waves  of  brown  hair,  shining  blue  eyes 
—  all  too  shining  —  and  cheeks  all  too  retf  " 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  173 

"  Well,  I'll  think  about  it." 

Several  hours  each  day,  Mrs.  Thompson  sat 
in  the  tent,  but  she  did  not  do  all  of  the  interest- 
ing talking. 

"  And  there's  a  little  girl  ?  " 

"  Yes,  she's  past  five  now,  but  she's  only  a  year 
old  to  me,  and  just  toddling,  because  that  was  all 
she  could  do  the  last  time  I  saw  her." 

"  Do  you  mind  telling  me  all  about  it,  a  little  at 
a  time,  as  you  feel  inclined  from  day  to  day? 
The  knowledge  may  help  me  to  aid  some  other 
girl  before  she  has  suffered  as  much  as  you 
have." 

And  so  it  was  told. 

"  I  had  to  leave  an  almost  finished  college 
course  to  earn  my  living.  Soon  after,  I  met  the 
One,  the  Only  One,  that  every  girl  dreams  of 
from  maidenhood  to  marriage.  By  day  we  both 
worked,  but  evenings  we  looked  into  each  other's 
eyes.  As  I  gazed,  a  picture  grew  of  home,  of 
love  and  children,  but  I  never  uttered  the  vision. 
What  he  saw,  he  did  not  speak,  but  I  knew  by 
the  light  in  his  eyes  that  he  held  it  dear.  When 
his  business  should  shape  itself  aright,  he  would 
talk  of  the  home ;  this,  my  heart  confided  to  me. 
Dear  at  the  first,  he  grew  always  dearer,  till 
heaven  would  have  been  hateful  without  him. 


174  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

One  day  close  held  in  his  arms  he  whispered,  "  To 
err  is  human,  forgiveness  is  divine.  I  love  you ; 
shall  I  go?  I  am  already  married!" 

"  I  fell  down  and  died  awhile,  but  fear  tossed 
me  back  to  life,  and  quickly  I  called  out,  just  one 
word,  '  Stay !  ' 

"  Heaven  came  close.  Then  the  ephemeral  went, 
and  the  everlasting  came.  My  baby  —  my  little 
baby.  For  a  whole  year  I  refused  such  work  as 
would  separate  me  from  her;  and  for  a  whole 
year  we  starved  —  my  baby  and  I.  Then  with  a 
needle  rusty  from  dropping  tears,  I  worked  her 
name  —  Jordana  Howells  —  on  all  her  little  gar- 
ments, and  left  her  at  a  foundling  door. 

"  Not  a  few  knew  me  as  the  mother  of  an 
illegitimate  child,  and  deserted.  Poverty  cannot 
hide  those  things.  When  I  obtained  office  work 
it  was  accompanied  by  the  supposition  that  I  was 
common  rental,  so  I  had  to  give  that  up.  Then 
I  tried  teaching,  but  I  was  not  allowed  to  finish 
my  term.  A  little  later,  a  wealthy  bachelor, 
stricken  with  tuberculosis,  was  leaving  for  Cali- 
fornia, and  suggested  that  I  accompany  him.  I 
did.  What  else  was  there  left  for  me  to  do? 
The  world  would  not  permit  me  to  earn  an  honest 
living  —  it  would  not  let  me  redeem  my  jewel 
from  the  pawn  in  which  I  had  placed  it ;  my  only 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  175 

alternative  was  one  man  or  many.     I  preferred 
one.     He  died  within  a  year." 

Day  after  day  Mrs.  Thompson  listened;  wider 
parted  her  eyelids  as  she  listened  and  faster  beat 
her  pulse.     Who  had  cast  Grace  Howells  out  of 
her   school   work?     Was   it  men?     Immaculate 
men?     Was  it  women  who  always  forgive 
erring  man?     She  would  ask  Grace.     Grace 
swered :     "  Men    send    girls    to   the   bad,    Mr 
Thompson,  but  women  keep  them  there." 

"  How,  Grace?  " 

"  Leaving  out  of  count  the  mongrels  among 
men,  and  the  felines  among  women,  the  men  of 
fine  principle  will  say :  "  Give  the  girl  another 
chance,  give  her  a  dozen  chances.  But  the 
women  of  integrity  —  they  will  not  have  it  so." 

And  Mrs.  Thompson  thought  as  she  listened. 
And  as  she  lay  in  bed  at  night,  she  thought.  Did 
girls  really  wish  to  get  out  of  that  life?  She 
would  ask  Grace. 

"  Many,  many  girls  at  the  Rose  Door  and  like 
places,  struggle  feebly  or  vigorously,  according 
to  the  strength  of  their  characters,  to  get  out 
after  a  short  apprenticeship,"  answered  Grace. 
"  A  girl  named  Rebecca  told  me  her  story ;  a 
great  many  gave  me  their  experiences,  but  hers 
particularly  impressed  me;  not  because  her  per- 


176  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

sonality  charmed  me  —  she  was  forceful,  not  gen- 
tle ;  aggressive,  not  winsome ;  loyal,  not  yielding ; 
and  handsome,  not  pretty.  But  because  she  was 
a  foreigner  and  without  knowledge  of  the  world, 
the  pity  of  it  was  intensified. 

"  If  I  were  to  declare  that  every  girl  in  im- 
moral work  was  first  drugged,  you  would  hardly 
credit  me.  But  I  do  say  so  —  all  of  them,  by  the 
most  powerful  of  all  drugs  —  Deception.  And 
none  are  so  effectually  deceived  as  those  who  de- 
liberately enter  it  for  money.  There  is  no  money 
in  it  —  for  the  girl.  Four  prices  are  charged  her 
for  the  necessaries  of  her  life.  Her  "  Mana- 
gers "  have  what  they  choose  to  name.  The  po- 
lice take  the  rest.  She  has  food  and  clothes  — 
yes,  but  money  in  the  bank  for  broken-down- 
health  days ;  that  would  be  an  affront  to  the  po- 
lice et  al." 

Another  day. 

"  Will  you  tell  me  the  story  of  the  girl  you 
mentioned  —  the  foreigner?  "  asked  Mrs.  Thomp- 
son. 

"  Oh,  Rebecca,  yes.  Rebecca  was  poor  when 
she  came  to  America,  and  still  poorer  when  she 
wished  to  leave.  There  was  a  lover  in  the  Father- 
land, too  poor  to  send  her  passage  money  home- 
ward. She  was  homesick;  she  was  despairing. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  17; 

She  would  have  walked  the  whole  distance  back, 
begging  from  door  to  door,  if  some  thousands  of 
miles  had  not  been  water. 

"  A  man  of  her  own  race  proposed  a  partner- 
ship with  her  in  —  I  was  going  to  say  *  crime,' 
but  a  business  desired  by  the  best  element  of  so- 
ciety as  a  safeguard  for  virtuous  women  cannot 
be  called  a  crime.  An  occupation  fostered  by  the 
state  as  promoting  commercial  prosperity  is  surely 
a  social  blessing.  And  when  the  breaking  of  one 
half  of  its  daughters  that  the  other  half  may  live, 
is  pronounced  by  the  nation  Expediency,  its  dy- 
ing ones  deserve  to  rank  with  the  soldier  —  the 
patriot  who  fights  and  dies  for  his  *  boarding 
house/  as  Jngersoll  has  put  it.  So  I  will  amend 
my  statement.  He  planned  a  philanthropic  en- 
terprise with  the  vicarious  act  exclusively  hers. 
This  for  a  period  of  three  months,  out  of  which 
she  was  to  receive  two-thirds  of  the  intome,  and 
with  that  sum  she  could  return  to  homeland  and 
lover  to  spend  the  rest  of  her  days  in  devout 
thankfulness  at  having  escaped  from  the  '  Land 
of  the  Free  and  the  Home  of  the  Brave.' 

"  At  the  end  of  the  three  months  there  were 
several  hundred  dollars  due  her.  But  in  order  to 
get  away  from  the  man  at  all,  she  had  to  steal  out 
only  ten  dollars  in  her  pocket. 


1 78  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"  She  was  done  with  that  kind  of  life.  She  had 
learned  its  lessons  —  absolute  subjection,  robbery, 
abuse. 

"  Through  an  employment  agency,  she  obtained 
kitchen  work.  Her  mistress  valued  her,  not  only 
as  a  domestic,  but  also  as  protection  during  the 
many  days  that  business  took  her  husband  away 
from  home.  It  was  six  weeks  before  Rebecca 
served  him  at  table ;  then  she  placed  the  roast  be- 
fore—  a  former  customer! 

' '  Send  that  girl  off,  bag  and  baggage,'  were 
his  directions  to  his  wife  when  Rebecca  had  left 
the  room. 

"  The  obedient  wife  paid  Rebecca  and  told  her 
that  if  she  were  not  out  of  the  house  in  an  hour, 
she  would  call  the  police. 

"  That  she  might  not  be  traced,  Rebecca  sought 
work  through  a  different  labor  bureau.  A  month 
passed  —  a  comfortable  month;  full  of  cooking, 
washing  and  ironing,  but  she  owned  her  own 
body.  Nor  was  hope  extinguished;  she  would 
get  back  to  the  Fatherland ;  she  was  earning  three 
dollars  a  week;  she  would  not  spend  one  penny 
and  at  the  end  of  a  year  she  would  go  back.  She 
had  her  dreams,  too  —  by  day  and  by  night ;  she 
would  go  to  Benjamin;  she  would  tell  him  the 
whole  story;  he  would  believe  her.  It  was  the 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  179 

truth ;  it  would  sound  like  the  truth.  Then  his 
old  love  for  her  and  her  constant  love  for  him 
would  aid  her  in  convincing  him.  She  was 
young  yet,  and  good  looking  —  yes,  better  look- 
ing that  when  she  left  the  Fatherland,  and 
that  would  help  some.  She  determined  to  re- 
gain Benjamin's  love,  though  she  could  not 
marry  him.  He  belonged  to  her  —  not  to  the 
other  woman  —  hadn't  she  paid  the  price  ? 

"  One  day  she  fairly  collided  with  a  down-town 
policeman  who  recognized  her  and  demanded 
former  favors.  When  she  told  him  she  was  '  liv- 
ing straight  now,'  he  laughed  and  re-demanded. 
She  refused.  He  was  offended.  He  asked  her 
where  she  was  working.  She  refused  to  tell. 
He  told  her  he  would  find  out,  and  he  did. 

"  Manfully  he  did  his  duty  to  the  virtuous 
woman  Rebecca  was  serving,  and  out  Rebecca 
went,  '  bag  and  baggage.' 

"  But  Rebecca  was  a  stubborn  spirit  —  as  bad 
as  Banquo's  ghost.  To  the  very  edge  of  the  city, 
she  went,  seeking  work. 

"  A  young  married  woman  and  a  baby  needed 
her.  Rebecca  grew  fond  of  the  baby,  therefore 
the  mother  grew  fond  of  Rebecca. 

"  One  day  Ah  Sing  brought  the  husband's  laun- 
dry. Rebecca  took  it. 


i8o  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"  When  the  wife  paid  him,  he  lowered  his  voice 
to  say :  '  She  livee  your  house  ?  ' 

"  '  Yes,  she  does  my  work.' 

"  '  You  nicee  lady.  You  no  keepee  her.  She 
badee  woman  in  Chinatown.' 

"  The  lady  interviewed  Rebecca.  Rebecca  told 
her  all  and  insisted  that  she  wished  to  work  hard 
for  the  rest  of  her  life. 

"  The  lady  told  her  she  feared  she  could  not  be 
trusted. 

"  Rebecca  arrived  at  the  Rose  Door,  '  bag  and 
baggage.' 

"  Mrs.  Thompson,  do  you  want  to  hear  a 
fable?" 

"  Yes,  if  you  are  the  narrator." 

"  Once  a  boat  capsized  with  a  dozen  people,  half  men 
and  half  women ;  but  as  a  bridge  was  just  over  their  heads 
they  all  succeeded  in  climbing  up  the  supports  to  its  road- 
way. Whenever  a  man  was  seen  clutching  the  balustrade 
the  hurrying  travellers  above  paused  to  offer  a  hand  to 
him.  Especially  did  the  women  do  noble  work,  a  score 
sometimes  assisting  one  man  over  the  railing.  Later,  the 
white  fingers  of  the  capsized  women  appeared  grasping  the 
floor  of  the  bridge.  The  rushing  men  scarcely  noticed 
them  but  the  quick  sympathy  of  the  women  spied  them  on 
the  instant,  and  they  gently  stepped  on  them.  If  that  act 
were  not  sufficient  to  make  the  clingers  take  the  hint, 'they 
quietly  in  a  ladylike  way,  and  patiently  in  a  Christianlike 
way,  but  persistently  in  a  businesslike  way  kicked  the 
fingers  with  their  toes  till  the  hands  loosened  their  hold 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  181 

and  their  owners  each  and  all   fell  back  into  the  water, 
and  were  never  seen  on  the  bridge  again. 

"  Then  it  went  down  in  history  that  the  chief  difference 
between  a  man  and  a  woman  is  that  when  they  both  fall 
into  the  water,  the  woman  likes  it  so  well  that  she  always 
remains  with  the  mermaids  while  the  man  is  commonly 
known  to  climb  away  from  those  wicked  vocalists  into  the 
outstretched  arms  of  the  heavenly  singers  on  the  bridge 
above." 

Each  night,  after  the  day's  narrative,  Mrs. 
Thompson  heard,  close  pressed  to  her  ear  as  the 
pillow,  the  whisper,  "  Men  send  girls  to  the  bad, 
but  women  keep  them  there." 

One  day  Grace  volunteered :  "  Next  to  Re- 
becca, the  most  unusual  character  that  I  met  at 
the  Rose  Door  was  a  Socialist.  He  preferred 
me  to  the  other  girls  because  I  would  listen  to  his 
talk.  Socialism  was  his  religion.  Personally,  he 
would  not  have  cared  if  the  whole  world  knew  he 
was  a  regular  at  the  house ;  but  he  would  rather 
have  been  unsexed  than  injure  the  Cause.  I  had 
heard  Socialism  called  a  '  home  breaker ' ;  he 
called  it  a  home  maker,  and  always  ended  his 
visit  with :  '  When  Socialism  comes,  it  will  wipe 
prostitution  off  the  earth.  It  is  only  a  matter  of 
bread  and  butter,'  he  said.  '  Since  the  world 
began,  maid  and  youth  have  mated  outside  the 
marriage  bond  and  they  will  continue  to  do  so 


182  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

until  the  end  of  time,  because  God  says,  omy, 
"  Mate,"  while  man  alone,  pipes,  "  Marry."  But 
since  the  world  began  woman  has  never  given  her 
body  willingly  to  men  she  loathed,  except  as  a 
means  of  subsistence,  and  to  the  end  of  time,  she 
never  will  for  any  other  reason.'  " 

"  My  Susie,  my  Susie !  "  and  the  morning  stars 
looked  in  on  Mrs.  Thompson's  sleepless  pillow. 

Another  day,  "  Tell  me  more  of  your  odd 
friend,  if  you  don't  mind.  It  is  a  new  thought 
to  me." 

"  Yes,  it  was  to  me  and  I  haven't  been  able  to 
digest  it  all,  yet.  He  said  the  Rose  Door  was 
a  business,  like  any  other  business  —  for  the 
money  in  it.  That  it  was  a  competitive  business, 
like  all  businesses.  Its  dealers,  like  all  dealers, 
must  make  the  business  attractive,  must  struggle 
for  the  largest  market;  for  the  highest  prices. 
Must  obtain  supply  of  goods  —  our  girls ;  must 
stimulate  the  demand  for  the  goods  —  our  boys. 
Must  lower  the  price  of  stale  goods;  and  sweep 
into  the  alley  the  unsalable.  Must  order  fresh 
goods  continually,  and  evoke  desire  by  the  best  ad- 
vertising methods." 

With  down-dropped  lids  Mrs.  Thompson 
mused.  At  last  rousing,  "  How  could  you, 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  183 

Grace,  with  your  refinement,  endure  to  wallow 
witH  the  swine  of  menkind?  " 

"  Oh,  I  didn't,  Mrs.  Thompson.  The  Rose 
Door  is  one  of  the  respectable  places.  The  dirty, 
the  ragged,  the  drunkard,  the  negro,  the  soldier, 
and  the  Mongolian,  are  barred  out." 

"  Then  how  much  business  could  you  do ; 

"  A  rushing  business,  continuous  and  regular." 

"  Where  did  you  get  your  trade?  " 

"  From  high-school  students  and  business  men 
and  officers  of  the  Presidio." 

"  High-school  students !  You  don't  mean  that, 
Grace,  surely." 

"  In  three  years,  Mrs.  Thompson,  your  Frank 
will  know  the  street  and  number  of  the  Rose 
Door  —  Oh,  forgive  me,  dear  Mrs.  Thompson, 
I  didn't  mean  to  say  that." 

The  blood  tide  had  ebbed  and  flowed  in  Mrs. 
Thompson's  face. 

"  Do  you  mean  you  made  a  misstatement  ?  " 

There  was  no  reply  from  Grace. 

"  Or,  do  you  mean  that  you  regret  that  you 
thoughtlessly  told  me  a  killing  truth  —  a  truth 
that  would  kill  ?  " 

From  between  Grace's  white  eyelids  splashed 
tears  upon  her  whiter  hands.  Mrs.  Thompson 


184  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

left  the  tent  to  be  alone,  all  alone  for  a  time.    My 
Frank,  my  Frank!  was  the  chant  that  night. 

Another  day,  "  What  more  did  your  friend 
say,  Grace  ?  " 

"  He  made  one  very  strong  statement  —  one 
I  meant  to  study  up  to  see  if  it  could  be  verified, 
but,  well,  in  my  work,  we  have  one  all-absorbing 
study  —  how  to  get  and  hold  men,  and  I  never 
found  time  to  read  up  on  it.     He  said  that  if  all 
the  women  in  the  world  were  brutally  ravished 
they  would  not  sustain  one-thousandth  of  the  ; 
physical  and  mental  injury  that  now  comes  to  ; 
them    from    the    love-plague    via    prostitution.  '. 
Father  and   husband  contract   it;  heredity  and  } 
marriage  transmit  it.     There  is  no  cure  for  it ; 
doctors  merely  drive  it  out  of  sight  and  some 
day  the  healed  looks  up  to  see  a  grisly  wraith 
ambling  along  at  his  side  —  ataxia  or  its  brother. 
He  quoted  the  great  Doctor  Zossler  as  saying,  I 
'  Whoever  learns  all  there  is  to  know  about  the  | 
love  disease,  need  study  no  other  disease.'  " 

Hours  later  Mrs.  Thompson  closed  her  eyes  to 
the  lullaby,  "  My  Susie ;  my  Frank ;  my  Frank ; 
my  Susie." 

"  I'm  going  to  the  public  library,"  said  Mrs. 
Thompson  one  morning,  "  to  get  some  books  on 
the  subjects  your  peculiar  friend  was  so  fond  of 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  185 

discussing,  and  together  we'll  put  him  to  the 
test." 

"  He  certainly  was  unlike  any  other  man  who 
came  to  us.  One  night  I  had  a  sore  throat  and 
fever;  when  he  left,  he  paid  the  price  of  a  night 
on  condition  that  I  be  not  disturbed. 

"  Another  time  he  arranged  for  me  to  hear  a 
noted  Socialist  speak.  I  met  him  at  Kearny  and 
Market  Streets,  where  we  took  a  car.  When  we 
reached  the  hall  he  gave  me  a  ticket  and  I  went 
in  alone.  After  the  meeting  he  took  me 
home  — " 

"  Home !  "  There  was  a  little  shock  in  Mrs. 
Thompson's  voice. 

"  Well,  I  know  the  word  wouldn't  bear  analy- 
sis," acquiesced  Grace.  "  A  year  ago,  he  went 
to  New  York,  but  he  stopped  over  a  whole  day  in 
Minneapolis  to  find  my  baby  and  write  me  all 
about  her.  He  had  her  picture  taken,  and  the 
photographer  sent  it  to  me.  She  isn't  the  baby 
I  left,  but  she  is  a  beautiful  child  —  I  wonder 
what  her  fate  will  be." 

"  I  wonder  what  her  fate  will  be  ?  "  was  the 
song  Mrs.  Thompson  carried  to  dreamland  that 
night. 

One  day,  as  his  wife  had  suggested,  Mr. 
Thompson  stepped  to  the  tent  door  and  looked 


i86  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

in.  Mrs.  Thompson  looked  up  from  a  book. 
The  sick  girl  also  looked  up ;  then  she  raised  her- 
self upon  an  elbow  to  look  — "  Merritt !  " 

He  will  be  no  whiter  when  he  is  dead.  He 
will  be  no  more  motionless  when  he  is  coffined  — 
for  one  moment  —  then  he  walked  away. 

Can  you  picture  the  composite  —  Question,  In- 
credulity, Terror?  Then  you  have  the  look  on 
Ida  Thompson's  face. 

There  was  silence  in  the  tent ;  the  girl's  breath 
came  fast. 

"Tell  me,  Grace!" 

Only  silence. 

"  Was  it  —  was  it  he  ?  " 

"  Don't  ask  -me,  dear  Mrs.  Thompson." 

"  I  am  answered.  And  —  his  — name  —  at 
that  time?" 

"  Merritt  Jordan !  " 

"  And  the  baby  you  named  '  Jordana  Howells.' 
- 1  see." 

Calling  the  nurse,  Mrs.  Thompson  left  for  the 
night. 

There  was  a  conversation  in  the  house  of  the 
ambitious  fuchsia. 

"Did  you  know  there  was  a  child,  Merritt?" 

"  I   refuse  to  discuss  the  matter,   Ida.     The 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  187 

man  is  all  to  blame,  if  you  let  the  woman  tell  the 
story." 

"  I  am  not  weighing  the  blame  at  present.  I 
am  merely  asking  if  you  knew  there  was  a  child, 
of  which  you  are  the  father?  " 

"  How  do  I  know  how  many  visitors  she  had  in 
my  absence?  " 

"  I  am  answered,"  said  Ida  Thompson.  "  For 
the  children's  sake,  the  same  roof  shall  cover  us. 
Continue  to  live  a  bachelor  life,  when  absent  from 
home;  I,  too,  shall  live  single,  though  in  a  dif- 
ferent sense.  For  the  children's  sake,  also,  we 
must  be  courteous  to  each  other  in  their  presence 
—  out  of  their  sight,  we  shall  not  meet.  When 
they  are  grown  I  shall  claim  the  right  to  live 
elsewhere ;  but  at  no  time,  will  I  be  a  party  to  con- 
signing one  child  of  the  same  family  to  poverty 
and  loneliness,  while  the  others  have  love  and 
luxury." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  I  am  going  to  Minneapolis  for  the  child." 

"  And  start  the  tongues  of  the  whole  city  to 
wagging?  Great  consideration  for  your  children, 
that!" 

"  I  can  count  my  own  life  as  naught  for  my 
children,  but  I  will  not  abandon  their  sister  to 


188  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

misery  and  shame.  You  can  proclaim  the  child 
an  orphaned  relative,  and  let  it  go  at  that,  if  you 
wish,  but  I  am  going  to  Minneapolis  for  the 
child." 

"  You're  a  fool!  " 

"  I  am  not  a  knave !  " 

Merritt  Jordan  Thompson  left  on  a  business 
trip. 

"  You've  grown  fond  of  writing  of  late,"  said 
Mrs.  Thompson,  when  Grace  had  scribbled  on  and 
off  for  three  consecutive  days. 

"  Oh,  I'm  just  dreaming  of  Minnesota,  and 
writing  down  my  dreams,"  she  smiled  back. 

"If  they're  homesick  dreams,  I  shall  spoil 
them,  for  I  have  something  beautiful  to  tell  you; 
I  am  going  to  Minneapolis  for  your  baby;  you 
shall  have  her  here  with  you ;  when  you  get  well 
you  shall  still  have  her  —  she  shall  never  leave 
you  again." 

"  Oh,  Mrs.  Thompson !  "  was  all  the  answer 
for  that  day. 

The  next  day :  "  Dear  Mrs.  Thompson,  I  am 
not  going  to  get  well ;  I  thought  for  a  long  time 
that  I  would,  but  at  last,  I  see  that  I  cannot." 

"  We  are  going  to  hope  that  you  will,  Grace, 
but  if  you  should  leave  us,  your  baby  shall  for- 
ever more  live  with  her  brother  and  sister;  to 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  189 

share  their  home,  their  education  and  the  love  I 
bear  them." 

"  Oh,  Mrs.  Thompson !  "  was  all  the  answer. 

Day  after  day  in  Mrs.  Thompson's  ears,  rang 
the  accusation  — "  Men  send  girls  to  the  bad,  but 
women  keep  them  there." 

"  But  Grace,"  she  said  in  defense,  "  I  have 
been  told  that  such  women  are  invariably  un- 
truthful and  deceitful  in  every  particular,  and 
spend  their  whole  thought  upon  setting  traps  of 
every  description  for  men." 

"  Prostitution  is  a  business,  Mrs.  Thompson, 
nothing  more.  Selling  intoxicating  drinks  is  a 
business  also.  In  each  case,  the  salesman's 
whole  occupation  is  to  stimulate  trade  —  to  ad- 
vertise, to  attract  the  largest  number  of  patrons 
possible  without  concern  as  to  the  result  to  the 
customer.  Remove  the  profits  in  either  business, 
and  you  have  killed  the  business." 


XI 

The  next  day  Grace  held  out  a  little  boo'  cc 
Mrs.  Thompson,  saying: 

"  This  was  a  gift  from  my  idiosyncratic  frwnd 
—  I  think  it  will  interest  you." 

That  evening  in  bed,  Mrs.  Thompson  opened 
it: 

"The  Social  Evil  is  very  old,  nearly  as  old  as  human 
society  itself.  As  far  back  as  history  gives  any  record, 
evidences  of  the  existence  of  this  peculiar  and  terrible 
traffic  can  be  found.  Throughout  the  ages  man  has  been 
the  strong,  invasive,  dominant  sex  and  women  have  been 
more  or  less  weak,  dependent,  subservient.  In  various 
ways,  from  savagery  to  modern  civilization,  women  have 
been  subjugated;  they  have  been  first  captured,  beaten, 
stolen,  then  bought,  and  cajoled;  and  after  all,  prostitu- 
tion is  but  one  phase  of  this  general  and  all-prevailing 
dominance  of  man.  Out  of  this  very  prevalence  of  mas- 
tery on  the  one  hand  and  subserviency  on  the  other,  men 
have  grown  stronger  physically  and  mentally,  women 
smaller,  weaker,  more  dependent  in  character.  The  differ- 
ence in  strength  and  power  very  early  in  the  history  of 
the  race  became  fixed  and  permanent.  In  the  early  stage 
of  society,  after  masculine  dominance  had  been  established, 
sex  relations  were  merely  a  matter  of  capture  and  con- 
quer. Women  had  no  choice  in  the  transaction,  whatever, 
IQO 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  191 

"  Of  course,  such  a  state  of  society,  made  prostitution 
impossible.  Prostitution  is  denned,  as,  '  selling  one's  self 
for  the  use  of  another  for  a  price '  and  this  could  not  be 
done  by  persons  who  did  not  own  their  own  bodies. 
Women  could  be  lent  or  sold  by  their  masters,  but  they  did 
not  possess  the  right  to  bestow  themselves  on  any  man, 
for  money  or  love. 

"  It  is  true  that  riotous  and  excessive  intercourse  pre- 
vailed during  the  earlier  stages  of  human  society.  But 
women  were  not  consulted  as  to  their  wishes.  The  chiefs 
of  the  tribes  owned  all  the  women  and  they  exchanged  or 
lent  them  to  one  another." 

Mrs.  Thompson  threw  the  book  down;  it  nau- 
seated her;  perhaps  a  woman  who  had  led  the 
life  Grace  had,  might  be  able  to  read  the  article 
without  qualm,  but  she,  herself,  did  not  feel 
benefited  by  the  perusal.  She  looked  about  her 
to  change  the  current  of  her  thoughts;  the  soft 
tinted  walls  rested  her  eyes;  the  velvet  carpet 
spoke  of  quiet  footfall  and  the  down  beneath 
her  body  held  her  easy  as  a  rocking  mother's 
arms.  There  was  peace  in  the  world  and  rest 
and  —  sleep. 

The  next  night  in  the  same  bright  room  on 
the  same  couch  of  down  she  reached  for  the 
book. 

"  The  idea  of  marriage  arose  thus :  a  scarcity  of  women, 
or  admiration  for  one  particular  woman,  first  aroused  in 
man  the  desire  for  permanent  possession ;  but  for  a  long 


192  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

while  wives  were  communal  property  for  the  communal 
system  extended  to  everything.  For  her  to  dispose  of  her 
person  without  authorization  was  a  capital  crime,  but  the 
husband  had  the  undisputed  right  to  lend  out  or  barter  his 
wives. 

"  So  that  as  yet,  there  were  no  women  free  to  sell  them- 
selves and  personally  receive  the  price.  They  were  still 
sold,  given  away  or  lent;  but  they  could  not  dispose  of 
themselves  in  any  of  these  ways.  Modern  prostitution  had 
not  yet  begun. 

"  With  the  evolution  of  private  property,  in  lands,  dwell- 
ings and  cattle,  the  idea  of  permanent  marriage  between 
one  man  and  one  woman  began  to  grow  up.  But  even 
where  a  monogamic  form  of  marriage  prevailed,  polygamy 
has  always  existed;  also  cases  of  polyandry.  But  with 
the  conception  of  private  possessions  came  the  desire  that 
one's  own  children  might  inherit  these  possessions;  there- 
fore the  custom  of  one  man  taking  one  woman  to  be  ex- 
clusively his  own,  to  whom  no  other  man  must  ever  be 
admitted,  sprang  up  and  came  to  be  a  deeply  rooted  in- 
stitution. When  the  man's  own  strong,  right  arm  could 
not  always  be  present  to  enforce  obedience,  a  sort  of  men- 
tal watch  dog  was  provided,  by  inculcating  the  idea  of 
duty  and  of  the  honor  to  be  found  in  faithfulness  and 
virtue  —  on  the  part  of  the  wife.  Moses,  too,  at  a  very 
opportune  time  strengthened  the  spiritual  shackles  with 
a  convenient :  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord !  Thy  desire  shall 
be  unto  thy  husband  and  he  shall  rule  over  thee.'  Thus 
woman's  status  in  society  was  fixed  for  ages  to  come." 

Mrs.  Thompson  laid  down  the  book.  She 
must  digest  that  much  before  reading  further. 

Another  night  in  lounging  robe  of  delicate 
feel,  on  the  bed  of  down  by  a  low-hanging  bulb 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  193 

of  light,  Mrs.  Thompson  picked  up  the  book  of 
disgusting  recital  to  look  for  the  name  of  the 
irritating  author.  Why,  the  investigations  of  a 
physician?  Were  they  really  facts ?  She  opened 
to  her  last  reading. 

"  The  earth  and  its  products  coming  to  be  held  as  private 
property,  it  naturally  followed  that  a  large  portion  of  man- 
kind were  left  without  land  or  homes  or  means  of  living. 
The  majority  of  women  were  married  or  owned  exclu- 
sively by  individual  men  and  in  that  sense,  'provided  for.' 
But  there  was  still  a  large  class  of  women  who  did  not 
belong  to  anyone;  fathers,  uncles  or  brothers  not  being 
able  to  care  for  or  suitably  dispose  of  all  their  womenkind. 
Naturally,  the  dispossessed  put  their  wits  to  work  to  make 
themselves  useful  to,  or  desired  by  the  possessing  classes 
in  any  and  every  way  possible  to  imagine.  Men  prosti- 
tuted their  talents,  their  powers,  their  skill,  and  the  women 
who  belonged  to  them  in  any  way.  Free  women  prosti- 
tuted themselves. 

"  Thus  the  history  of  prostitution  is  the  history  of  pri- 
vate poverty  in  the  earth  and  all  that  it  brings  forth  when 
labor  is  applied  to  it." 

Mrs.  '  Thompson  leaned  back  on  soft  pillows 
and  closed  her  eyes.  As  a  young  girl,  she  had 
been  sent  to  a  "  finishing  "  school  where  gracious- 
ness  of  manner  and  musical  and  literary  polish 
had  been  grafted  on  to  a  nature  already  sweet 
and  refined.  As  a  wife,  she  was  chastity  itself; 
as  a  mother,  unselfish,  utterly.  Society  found 
her  interested  in  philanthropic  enterprises,  and 


194  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

an  authority  in  Shakespearian  Clubs.  "  Ver- 
satile," her  friends  called  her.  "Educated!" 
Mrs.  Thompson  spoke  to  Mrs.  Thompson,  "  and 
I  knew  no  more  of  the  origin  of  marriage  and 
private  property  than  does  Susie!  A  well-in- 
formed woman !  who  thought  prostitution  was 
entered  upon  for  pleasure." 

She  took  up  the  book  with  the  light  gone  out 
of  her  eyes. 

"  Man  has  set  the  world-old  example  of  sex  barter  with 
no  element  of  love  whatever  in  it.  Women,  driven  by 
destitution,  find  it  easy  to  do  what  they  have  been  cowed 
and  beaten  into  doing  for  ages. 

"  Now  the  thought  will  arise  that  not  all  women  who 
sell  themselves  do  so  because  of  actual,  dire  destitution. 
Many  have  yielded  themselves  through  an  extreme  love  of 
finery  and  things  of  beauty,  or  from  the  hope  of  greater 
luxury  and  more  leisure  than  an  honest  life  would  afford 
them.  This  is  all  too  true.  Society  has  made  the  earning 
of  a  good,  decent  living  for  the  average  woman  a  very 
difficult  thing.  It  has  made  the  opportunities  for  exercis- 
ing her  faculties  and  abilities  to  advantage  very  scarce 
indeed.  Always,  under  our  economic  system,  there  is  a 
large  class  of  unemployed  workers.  This  must  inevitably 
be  the  case  when  the  actual  workers  are  not  paid  enough 
to  buy  back  one-fourth  of  what  they  produce.  An  ever 
abundant  surplus  of  goods  on  the  market,  necessitates  hard 
times,  or  no  work  at  all  to  a  large  number  of  wage 
workers.  The  individual  members  of  the  class  change 
each  month  perhaps,  but  the  class  is  always  there.  Women 
have  a  natural  love  for  the  beautiful  and  for  refinement 
and  sweetness  of  life  and  a  little  daily  leisure  is  like  a 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  195 

glimpse  of  heaven  to  most  of  them.  For  the  innate,  un- 
comprehended  craving  so  many  women  experience,  they 
do  voluntarily  sell  themselves,  without  love  and  without 
passion,  hoping  to  find  the  ease,  luxury,  beauty  and  cheer 
they  long  for,  and  little  dreaming  how  much  worse  their 
fate  will  be  than  it  was  before. 

"  Women  marry  to  gain  wealth,  position,  influence,  leisure 
and  luxury,  and  the  world  does  not  condemn  them ;  yet 
they  are  no  different  and  no  better  than  the  women  who 
give  themselves  for  a  month,  a  week  or  an  hour  for  these 
same  things." 

Again  Mrs.  Thompson  laid  down  the  book. 
Her  mind  ran  over  the  marriages  of  her  school- 
girl friends.  Clara  loved  Sammy  and  married 
Dick;  they  went  to  Europe  for  a  year.  Emily 
married  a  widower  sixty  years  old,  but  she  has 
servants  and  a  chauffeur. 

She  resumed  her  reading : 

"What  is  the  alternative  to-day  for  the  good  woman, 
who  will  not  give  herself  in  either  of  these  ways,  and  who 
has  not  inherited  money  or  has  no  father  or  brother  who 
is  willing  to  support  her?  Progress  has  opened  up  many 
new  fields  of  activity  for  woman,  but  after  all  she  will 
find  the  struggle  to  earn  a  living  a  nerve-wearing  and 
bitter  struggle.  Not  all  women  can  marry  the  men  they 
love  —  what  else  can  they  do? 

"  If  the  woman  takes  up  sewing  for  a  living  she  must 
work  ten,  twelve  or  more  hours  a  day,  as  fast  as  her  fingers 
can  fly,  seated  in  a  close  room,  getting  no  physical  exer- 
cise, until  disease  sets  its  fatal  mark  upon  her;  and  she 
will  receive  for  it  barely  enough  to  keep  body  and  soul 


196  THE  ROSE 

together.  Or  else  she  can  work  in  some  cf  tb«  factories 
under  similar  conditions ;  or  she  can  go  to  work  in  some- 
body's kitchen  and  be  looked  upon  as  a  machine,  without 
feelings,  desires  or  capacity  for  happiness;  a  creature  not 
fit  to  sit  with,  to  eat  with  or  to  talk  with,  one  who  is  not 
supposed  to  need  love  or  friendship  or  companionship. 
What  self-respecting  woman  will  voluntarily  choose  such 
an  existence?  —  to  wash  and  scrub  and  grow  bent  and 
wrinkled  with  hard,  knotted  hands  and  ugly  form;  be  al- 
ways tired  and  always  just  outside  the  circle  where  life  is 
really  lived. 

"  Or  one  may  rise  to  be  a  stenographer,  a  bookkeeper 
or  a  clerk.  But  even  here,  unless  one  buys  her  position 
with  her  sex  favors,  it  is  insecure  and  she  is  poorly  paic» 
and  ill-considered." 

"  Susie !  "  burst  from  Mrs.  Thompson's  lips 
and,  "  Susie,  Susie,"  rang  through  all  her  dreams 
that  night. 

Every  word  she  had  read  she  hated.  She 
hated  the  very  color  of  the  book,  yet  she  opened 
it  at  the  first  moment  of  leisure  next  day. 

"A  teacher,  perhaps,  has  a  better  chance  as  her  hours 
are  not  so  long  and  she  is  treated  with  some  respect  by 
her  patrons.  But  women  who  teach  continuously,  are  usu- 
ally nervous  wrecks  at  forty  or  forty-five.  Women  do 
sometimes  make  good  canvassers  or  agents.  If  they  pos- 
sess a  quality  generally  known  as  '  cheek '  and  are  not  sen- 
sitive to  the  treatment  they  receive  from  strangers  they 
may  make  a  success  of  it  and  may  not  be  compelled  to 
work  all  the  time.  But  the  woman  has  to  know  that  she 
is  forcing  articles  upon  people  which  they  do  not  want, 
and  she  must  too  often  feel  herself  a  fraud.  All  these 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  197 

devious  ways  are  so  dreary,  so  ugly,  so  devoid  of  all 
that  makes  life  worth  living,  that  it  is  a  strong  character 
indeed  that  can  turn  backyfrom  the  enticement  of  an 
apparently  easy  life  spent  in  ministering  to  a  man's  desires, 
to  take  up  the  dull  plodding  life  of  a  common  wage  worker. 

"  The  majority  of  prostitutes  come  from  the  wage-earn- 
ing classes,  which  proves  that  women  are  driven  to  such  a 
life.  Typewriter  girls,  /bookkeepers  and  clerks  are  easy 
prey  to  their  employers,  because  ,they  are  often  in  the 
midst  of  well-dressed,  refined  people,  and  see  gaiety,  en- 
joyment, good  cheer  on  every  side  and  find  it  impossible 
to  participate  in  any  of  these,  or  to  dress  decently  on  the 
wages  they  receive  for  mere  toil  'The  master,  or  the 
master's  son  considers  the  domestic  servant  legitimate 
prey;  when  the  masters  have  tired  of  them,  or  they  have 
been  discovered  by  the  mistresses,  they  are  turned  out; 
what  other  resource  have  they  but  to  drift  to  the  houses 
of  prostitution? 

"  Laundry  women  seldom  work  longer  than  three  or  four 
years  before  breaking  down.  They  earn  from  four  to 
eight  dollars  a  week." 

Mrs.  Thompson  arose  and  left  the  house  for  a 
walk.  She  wanted  to  look  at  life  as  she  had 
done  before  Grace  Howells  loomed  upon  her 
horizon.  She  would,  by  calm  reflection,  get 
back  to  her  previous  point  of  view — "God's  in 
his  heaven ;  all's  right  with  the  world  " —  and 
forget  that  of  this  pessimistic  doctor. 

She  walked  one  block,  and  then  headed  for 
home,  where  she  removed  her  wraps  and  hur- 
riedly took  up  the  book. 


198  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

"  Women  are  not  as  sweet  and  noble  to-day  as  nature 
would  have  had  them,  for  woman  was  first  mastered, 
beaten  into  submission,  robbed,  outraged,  violated ;  until 
her  whole  sweet,  natural  sex  nature  became  distorted  and 
stunted ;  later  on  she  was  starved  and  frozen  into  offering 
her  body  with  apparent  willingness,  and  then  she  was 
flattered,  coaxed,  and  humored  until  she  would  consent 
to  become  a  docile  plaything.  Sometimes,  she  has  been 
placed  upon  a  pedestal  and  worshipped,  not  for  her  hu- 
manity but  for  her  sex;  again  she  has  been  hawked  about 
and  offered  for  sale  by  ambitious  parents  seeking  buyers 
in  worn-out  old  roues,  with  titles  or  money  bags. 

"  Can  there  be  any  wonder  that  women  are  what  they 
are  —  shallow,  volatile,  deceitful,  vain,  incapable  of  great 
love  or  of  great  actions." 

.  Mrs.  Thompson  leaned  back  in  her  chair, 
"Where,  oh  where,  is  the  cure  for  this?"  she 
groaned. 

"  Mamma,  do  something  quick !  "  Susie  stood 
before  her  with  a  cut  finger. 

It  was  a  dear  task  tenderly  to  bind  it  —  nature 
would  do  the  rest.  But  the  incident  only  caused 
her  question  to  echo  more  loudly  — "  Where  is 
the  cure?  Where  is  the  cure?"  Perhaps  the 
book  would  answer  at  the  last.  She  took  it  up : 

"Where  there  is  poverty  and  destitution  there  will  be 
prostitution,  both  of  men  and  women." 

"  Yes,  but  where  is  the  cure  ?  "  she  persisted. 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  199 

"  A  prominent  merchant  in  a  large  city  was  asked  to 
subscribe  five  hundred  dollars  toward  the  building  of  a 
'  home '  for  fallen  women.  He  amiably  complied,  and  the 
next  morning  reduced  the  wages  of  all  the  sewing  women 
in  his  manufacturing  department  —  and  thus  gave  them 
an  extra  push  toward  the  path  that  led  to  his  'home'  for 
fallen  women." 

"But  the  cure?" 

"  Vice  and  crime  can  be  abolished.  When  ?  When  we 
are  certain  of  the  cause  of  them  —  and  then  remove  those 
causes.  What  are  their  causes?  Involuntary  poverty." 

A  trifle  indeed!  Remove  poverty!  But  a 
command  is  not  an  explanation.  How  was  this 
petty  obstruction  to  be  pushed  aside  ?  Could  the 
gloomy  healer  prescribe  the  antidote?  She  re- 
sumed the  book. 

" '  But  the  law  might  do  something  to  wipe  out  the  evil, 
surely,'  exclaim  some.  The  world  has  been  legislating 
against  sin  for  thousands  of  years,  but  the  sin  remains 
just  the  same.  Cleaning  out  a  bagnio  is  like  clearing  an 
old,  decaying  house  of  rats  by  making  a  loud  noise  and 
frightening  them  away  for  a  time.  All  the  unhappy 
wretches  exist  still  and  must  live  in  some  way.  They 
have  no  other  way  of  securing  it  except  by  practicing  their 
old  profession,  only,  now,  they  do  it  more  secretively  and 
in  darker  and  more  dangerous  corners.  Nothing  but  a 
complete  change  in  the  social  and  economic  institutions 
and  systems  of  our  civilization  will  effect  a  cure  for  the 
evil  under  discussion ;  little  remedies  do  not  actually  affect 


200  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

the  evil  and  its  underlying  cause.  The  world  is  waking 
up  to  the  fact  that  all  human  beings  are  related  and  that 
what  concerns  one  concerns  all! " 

"  The  concern  of  one  is  the  concern  of  all," 
murmured  Mrs.  Thompson.  "  It  is  true,  it  is 
true !  My  Frank !  My  Susie !  "  and  again  Mrs. 
Thompson  leaned  back  with  closed  eyes  which 
saw. 

The  book  continued  to  call. 

"  While  there  are  owners  of  the  earth  and  homeless  ones, 
because  of  it ;  while  there  are  masters  and  servants ;  while 
there  are  the  favored  few  and  the  oppressed  majority, 
there  will  always  be  wrongs  and  abuses  which  cannot  be 
cured.  The  earth  and  all  its  resources,  must  belong  to  all 
alike.  Useful  labor  must  be  the  only  foundation  for  the 
ownership  of  wealth.  None  should  be  overworked  — 
drudgery  dulls  the  faculties,  paralyzes  the  brain  and  dwarfs 
the  body.  This  is  pure  selfishness,  enlightened,  for  each 
will  possess  enough  and  need  not  fear  the  encroachments 
of  his  needy  brother. 

"  When  all  are  afforded  full  opportunity  to  act  and  de- 
velop and  grow,  does  anyone  think  that  man  or  woman 
will  sell  himself  or  herself  for  base  uses?  Would  there  be 
any  cause  for  prostitution?  Certainly  not." 

Mrs.  Thompson  closed  the  book,  repeating, 
"  Certainly  not." 


One  day  the  eyes  did  not  open;  one  day  the 
cheeks  were  not  red ;  and  from  the  stiffened  fin- 


THE  ROSE  DOOR  201 

gers  Mrs.  Thompson  drew  a  crumpled  paper  — 
the  dreams,  the  homesick  dreams  of  Minnesota: 

Home  of  gentle  Minnehaha, 

Of  Winona,  child  of  air; 
Shrine  of  grieving  Hiawatha, 

Minnetonka's  shady  lair. 
Temple  of  Saint  Anthony's  alto 

Where  he  singeth  without  care; 
Hunting  ground  of  the  Dacotah  — 
That,  oh  that  is  Minnesota. 

Where  the  clouds  are  sunlit  ever ; 

Where  the  skies  give  deepest  blue ; 
Where  a  thousand  lakes  laugh  heavenward; 

Where  a  thousand  bluffs  peer  through 
Pine  tree  boughs,  whose  leaves  drop  healing, 

Where  come  hope  and  youth  anew,  - 
And  where  loved  the  fierce  Dacotah  — 
There,  oh  there,  is  Minnesota. 

Where  the  breezes  croon  in  chorus, 

Mississippi's  birth  place  o'er; 
Where  great  oak  trees,  giant  sentries, 

Guard  the  mighty  river's  shore ; 
Where  the  golden-rod,  the  regal, 

Makes  an  endless  golden  floor, 
And  where  sleeps  the  brave  Dacotah  — 
There,  oh  there,  is  Minnesota. 

When  thy  sons,  beyond  thy  valleys, 

By  life's  toil  are  pushed  afar ; 
Homesick  grow  they  for  thy  glories, 

For  thy  winter's  snowy  spar! 


202  THE  ROSE  DOOR 

Long  they  for  the  Cloudy  Water, 

Hear  it  calling,  calling  far 
As  it  called  to  the  Dacotah: 
Minnesota!  Minnesota! 


THE   END 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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